Category Archives: 2025 Films

2025 Films, ASAP Rocky, Christian Slater, Comedy, Conan O'Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Dark Comedy, Drama, Independent, Independent Comedy, Independent Drama, Josh Safdie, Mary Bronstein, Rose Byrne

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You-2025

February 25, 2026 scottmet99 Leave a comment

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You-2025

Director Mary Bronstein

Starring Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien, Christian Slater

Scott’s Review #1,521

Reviewed February 25, 2026

Grade: A-

Not being a parent myself, nor ever having the desire to be one, I was nonetheless enthralled by the subject of stressed parenting explored in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (2025).

Examining our frazzled lead character, Linda’s, descent into madness after enduring day after day of adult chaos and kid problems, the role is wonderfully played by Rose Byrne.

The actor, though memorable in 2011’s classic Bridesmaids, is usually associated with one-note or throwaway roles throughout her long career.

It’s inspiring to see her finally get her due by playing a complex role with so much chops and receiving an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2025.

With her life crashing down around her, Linda, ironically a psychotherapist, attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness amid pressure from her therapist, her absent husband, a missing client, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her own therapist (Conan O’Brien), also a colleague.

After her living room is destroyed by water damage, she is reduced to renting a dingy motel for an extended period, where she encounters hostile motel workers.

Her saving grace is her late-night solitude, when she can peacefully indulge in wine and pot while sitting on the beach, contemplating her life.

Director Mary Bronstein, who also appears as a therapist, cleverly doesn’t show Linda’s daughter or husband for nearly the entire film, revealing them only through their grating voices. They irritate and stress Linda out to no end.

Undoubtedly, Bronstein either wanted to keep the focus on Linda and her daily peril or to leave it uncertain whether they even existed outside Linda’s mind.

The plot mostly involves a medical situation where Linda’s daughter, Delaney, has a pediatric feeding disorder that necessitates nightly supplemental feeding through a tube and participation in a day hospital program.

Her husband, a ship captain, is away, presumably at sea. This leaves Linda to handle everything.

Linda trudges through her days, arguing with a parking attendant and a contractor, while having misunderstandings with her therapist, patients, and a bitchy girl at her motel.

The supporting characters are well cast and add leverage to Linda’s peril by being completely unsympathetic and sour. O’Brien is excellent as the self-absorbed therapist, while Danielle Macdonald is good as a needy patient who ditches her baby.

But the film belongs to Byrne.

From the first scene, she wears a weary look, and her close-up facial expressions speak volumes about her peril. Linda looks washed out and exhausted while things spiral out of control. Nearly dozing off as a patient chatters away, she finally has had enough.

On the other hand, she is constantly on the brink of losing her shit.

Thanks to Byrne, we are treated to fist-pumping scenes where she lets loose on both therapists and the bitchy motel girl, instantly making Linda the only rootable character in the lot.

Still, she’s not exactly likable herself and incessantly makes poor choices. Her irritation with everything grows tiresome until the final sequence, when the film parleys into a message about mental illness.

If I should have found the film depressing, I didn’t.

Sprinkled with macabre humor, the film must have been influenced by the 1970 masterpiece Diary of a Mad Housewife, starring Carrie Snodgrass as a woman emotionally tortured by her selfish family and on the brink of a breakdown.

Bronstein, also the screenwriter, makes Linda the only character the audience should focus on, and all events are told from her perspective, which makes the film a winner.

Never knowing where events are headed, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (2025) is a sheer delight in comedic/dramatic insanity. Though it carries a strong central theme of mental wellness, it also promotes the important message that it’s also okay not to have kids who will ruin your life.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress-Rose Byrne

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-Best Director-Mary Bronstein, Best Lead Performance-Rose Byrne (won)

2025 Films, Abel Ferrara, Comedy, Drama, Emory Cohen, Fran Drescher, Gywneth Paltrow, Josh Safdie, Kevin O'Leary, Odessa A'zion, Sandra Bernhard, Sports, Timothée Chalamet, Tyler Okonma

Marty Supreme-2025

February 19, 2026 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Marty Supreme-2025

Director Josh Safdie

Starring Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’Zion

Scott’s Review #1,519

Reviewed February 19, 2026

Grade: A

At a mere thirty years old, Timothée Chalamet has already amassed some terrific film roles in Call Me By Your Name (2017), Wonka (2023), and A Complete Unknown (2024).

Portraying unique and offbeat characters is his sweet spot.

Playing Marty Mauser in the film Marty Supreme (2025) is his best performance to date. He seamlessly turns a character the audience should dislike into an instant fan favorite who we laugh with, cry with, and root for to overcome life obstacles.

He is a nobody who desperately wants to be a somebody.

While Chalamet leads the charge, he is aided by strong supporting performances from Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, and Fran Drescher as characters who weave into Marty’s web of adventures.

Even actors appearing in only a few scenes are flawlessly cast, providing an authentic look at working-class and affluent white Jewish people in New York at the time. A racial harmony is also set by including a handful of black characters as dear friends of Marty’s.

Set in 1950s New York City, Marty is a young man with a dream of becoming the world’s best table tennis player, despite setbacks and a lack of respect for the sport.

With a needy mother (Drescher), two different on again off again girlfriends who are both married, one a childhood buddy and one twice his age (A’zion and Paltrow), a pathway to a dull career as a shoe salesman, and a tumultuous relationship with a successful businessman (played by Kevin O’Leary), the cards in life are stacked against him.

Yet, Marty consistently manipulates his way to a free trip to London and Tokyo, and several get-rich-quick schemes to get what he wants and to fulfill his lifelong dream.

Acting is only a part of the overall success of Marty Supreme. Thanks to Josh Safdie’s (Good Time, 2017; Uncut Gems, 2019) superior direction, all technical capabilities are flawlessly executed, and an unpredictable story is achieved.

The pacing is quick and organized, leaving never a dull moment in nonstop Marty adventures. Sequences like the search for a lost dog portray perilous moments of danger as the dog becomes a more prominent character than expected.

The editing is superior, making the fast-paced table tennis sequences both thrilling and exhausting. The quick dialogue, whether during phone conversations, in a dusty theater, or in an exquisite hotel room, all add up to a tight package of filmmaking.

Finally, the costumes and art direction more than adequately showcase a period when a few Americans were affluent. At the same time, the rest struggled to make ends meet while pursuing their own version of the American dream.

I’ve been a fan of Safdie since he was an up-and-comer making the independent film Good Time with his brother Benny, and he has since come into his own with the grizzled crime thriller Uncut Gems starring Adam Sandler.

Seeming to enjoy the New York setting in his films, just like director Paul Thomas Anderson prefers sunny California, he is steadily making his films highly recognizable.

Continuing on the theme of good film balance, Safdie incorporates naughty scenes like Marty’s humiliating bare bottom spanking in front of snickering businessmen, and a daring scene where he goes down on an aging film actress (Paltrow) in Central Park.

This ensures some humor is present.

The haves and have-nots support Marty’s journey. Wanting more than the life his depressed mother or shady friends have, Marty aspires to be in the big leagues. He will lie, cheat, or steal from whomever he needs to to achieve this.

And yet, Marty is kindhearted and humorous in his pursuits. He giggles when he can lounge in a lavish hotel and order room service or shmooze among rich theater types at a grandiose party.

Class distinctions are an important part of the character’s motivation for a better life.

Deservedly recognized with many awards-season accolades, Marty Supreme (2025) is an example of a young director coming into his own, with ample resources to make a gem of a film.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-Josh Safdie, Best Actor-Timothée Chalamet, Best Original Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Costume Design

2025 Films, Documentary, Geeta Gandbhir

The Perfect Neighbor-2025

February 13, 2026 scottmet99 Leave a comment

The Perfect Neighbor-2025

Director Geeta Gandbhir

Starring Various

Scott’s Review #1,517

Reviewed February 13, 2026

Grade: B+

The Perfect Neighbor (2025) is an enthralling documentary that will surely please fans of crime scene investigations. Those familiar with the case in question, as I was, will benefit greatly from engagement.

On the other hand, those unfamiliar may be equally mesmerized, having no knowledge of the outcome.

The bottom line is that the project, directed by Geeta Gandbhir, is excellent work across many aspects, including camerawork, story, and raw video footage, most of which was captured on police body cams.

A seemingly minor neighborhood squabble between a white woman named Susan and a black neighbor named Ajike in rural Ocala, Florida, escalates into a fatal shooting, with Susan ultimately killing Ajike.

The film chronicles the lead-up period from 2022 to June 2023, when the shooting occurs. We see from repeated 911 calls and complaints that Susan regularly reported neighborhood kids being noisy or playing on or around her property.

Police bodycam footage and investigative interviews are largely used throughout the documentary to show the progression of the incident and questioning by the police detectives following the shooting.

Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law, which allows someone who is fearful for their life to defend themselves using a firearm, is showcased in the final segment since it was used as a defense.

The case was high-profile in the United States.

As a disclaimer, Gandbhir is the victim’s sister-in-law’s best friend, so the perspective is from Ajike and her family more than Susan’s.

Emotional sequences, such as when Ajike’s kids are told that their mother has died, are heartwrenching and tremendously effective. Later, anger erupts when Susan is allowed to return home amid shouts from Ajike’s family members.

Susan, who is heavily featured, is not meant to elicit sympathy, though once or twice I did feel sorry for her. Yes, she is the neighborhood nuisance and inexplicably calls the cops unnecessarily, but is she lonely, or does she feel left out?

Would Susan have accepted an invitation to a neighborhood barbecue?

Gandbhir might have delved a bit more into Susan’s personal life, but the intention feels more like making it clear she is a piranha.

At one point early on, Susan proclaims to be a doctor, but the claim is never confirmed or denied.

I would have liked to have known more about Susan. At one point, a female friend briefly appears. Was Susan married? Did she work? Was she actually a doctor? If so, what led her to a poor neighborhood?

Despite the filmmakers’ slanted viewpoint, whether justified or not, the end product is visually exceptional. The use of police cams and raw footage makes the viewer feel like an observer in the action, almost as if they are there in real time, standing alongside the cops and hearing witness accounts.

The production, direction, and editing are the documentary’s sweet spot and are technically excellent.

Beginning with a brief snippet of the fateful night, we then go back to the first complaint, and the documentary is henceforth chronological.

Most scenes are interviews with the participants, which makes it interesting to determine who is right or wrong and for the viewer to assess who is to blame. Or are multiple parties to blame? We merely see the aftereffects of the altercations, not the altercations themselves.

The message of The Perfect Neighbor (2025) is to question the systemic failures and uncertainties of the American legal system and to determine whether racism was a factor in a horrific small-town event or in the Florida stand-your-ground law itself.

Oscar Nominations: Best Documentary

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-Best Documentary (won)

2025 Films, Best Feature- Independent Spirit Award Winners, Clint Bentley, Drama, Felicity Jones, Joel Edgerton, Kerry Condon, Will Patton, William H. Macy

Train Dreams-2025

February 4, 2026 scottmet99

Train Dreams-2025

Director Clint Bentley

Starring Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, William H. Macy

Scott’s Review #1,515

Reviewed February 4, 2026

Grade: A-

Train Dreams (2025) offers a character-driven approach to filmmaking that is also wonderfully cinematic, thanks in part to Clint Bentley’s direction.

Bently also wrote and produced 2023’s Sing Sing, but I think Train Dreams is the superior effort in terms of visuals alone. Adolpho Veloso is the film’s lead cinematographer and deserves major praise for the gorgeous look the film achieves.

The tone is often serene and quiet, allowing viewers to immerse themselves in the scenes’ tranquility without making the film drag. Landscapes, forests, and luminous sunsets are featured, providing an environmentally ubiquitous experience.

Will Patton narrates the film.

Train Dreams begins around 1917 and recounts the life of Robert Grainier, fantastically portrayed by Joel Edgerton, an example of an actor/director who continues to choose quality projects.

This may be his best role yet.

Robert begins life as an orphan, arriving in the desolate town of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where he works aimlessly as a logger until he meets Gladys Olding (Felicity Jones). They marry, build a log cabin along the Moyie River, and have a daughter, Kate.

When tragedy strikes, Robert must reassess his life and purpose as he grows older and the years pass aimlessly by. Through the elements, he recognizes both beauty and brutality during his life-altering events and the redundancy of everyday life.

The scenes featuring Edgerton and Jones are the warmest and most touching. The pair shares a strong chemistry made more palpable because Robert is forced to leave his family for a portion of the year for work. Their joy at each reconciliation is apparent, with golden sunsets enveloping the happy couples’ most memorable moments.

Years later, Robert meets another woman named Claire (Kerry Condon), a Forest Service worker who is nearly a doppelganger for Gladys. We tenderly see the progressive, fearless woman Gladys might have become decades later, had she not been in a terrible accident.

Edgerton, the standout performer, easily displays his emotions on his face. Though tortured, he is also a dreamer and a kindly man, as proven when he is disturbed by an immigrant who is shot and killed, and an older man who has dementia.

There is an overall intimacy to Train Dreams that the audience can grasp. Robert’s frequent visions of Gladys, Katie, and the immigrant both disturb and comfort him as he evaluates his usefulness over his decades on Earth.

For a viewer like me who lives in a city, Train Dreams was an important reminder to appreciate the small, silent things in life, such as birds, grass, and trees. So easily overlooked, these elements remain long after the self-important human beings pass through.

I asked myself when the last time I was in a forest was, and I couldn’t come up with an answer.

Intricate sequences of spinning trees, with shifting focus, further enhance the creativity of the cinematography and production design.

The message Bentley creates also appears to be a comparison of the peace America once had, now tarnished by political discord, corruption, and chaos, which has destroyed most of its serenity.

But that’s a different conversation.

Above all, Train Dreams (2025) taught me not to get so hung up on stress and the rat race, but to put the brakes on from time to time to appreciate what really matters.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Song, “Train Dreams”

Independent Spirit Awards Nominations: 3 wins-Best Feature (won), Best Director- Clint Bentley (won), Best Lead Performance- Joel Edgerton, Best Cinematography (won)

2025 Films, Andrew Scott, Biography, Bobby Cannavale, Comedy, Drama, Ethan Hawke, Jonah Lees, Margaret Qualley, Patrick Kennedy, Richard Linklater

Blue Moon-2025

January 26, 2026 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Blue Moon-2025

Director Richard Linklater

Starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley

Scott’s Review #1,514

Reviewed January 26, 2026

Grade: B+

Blue Moon (2025) is a character-driven look at a talented writer on the brink of breakdown. Over the course of one boozy night, the audience is introduced to the troubled man and comes to envelop him and his sometimes off-putting ideas.

The movie succeeds through a combination of crisp, sardonic, well-written dialogue and Ethan Hawke’s inspired performance as Lorenz Hart, an American lyricist living in the 1940s.

A film every Old Broadway New Yorker ought to love, the setting is the famous theatre district eatery, Sardi’s, where many a piano song has been sung, and drink has been drunk by both popular and struggling players in the Broadway game.

The plot centers on the night of March 31, 1943, as World War II rages.

Hart reflects on himself following the opening night of Oklahoma!, a new musical created by his former colleague Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott), where a celebration is planned to gush over its overwhelming success. He despises the corny, overly wholesome lyrics and is dismayed by the production’s popularity.

The talkative, cynical, and newly sober Hart visits with bartender Eddie (Bobby Cannavale), who tries unsuccessfully not to serve him liquor, and enlisted sergeant piano player Morty (Jonah Lees), who is on leave.

Hart also commiserates with writer E.B. White (Patrick Kennedy), soon to become famous for stories like Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web, the former of which he gets from Hart.

While not the flashiest film, director Richard Linklater draws an excellent performance from Hawke and miraculously and flawlessly makes Hawke’s character appear physically very short in stature.

This is more difficult than it sounds from a cinematography perspective, and it also deserves props for creating a unique-looking restaurant-and-bar shape.

Hawke came into his own with 1989’s Dead Poets Society and has continued to deliver more sophisticated performances as he has aged.

Except for a brief opening sequence where Hart’s ultimate fate is revealed, the entire film takes place in the dark restaurant/bar.

Hart spends time chatting with Elizabeth Weiland, an unrequited love interest of his, who ruminates on her own unsuccessful love life.

Over the course of the film, it’s sad to see Hart’s life unravel. Fans will know that Rogers and Hammerstein were a tremendously successful musical duo and not Rogers and Hart. As Hart spends time pitching ideas to Rogers, we realize their partnership will go no further than it already has.

Hawke is superb at delivering a massive amount of lines, showcasing Hart’s sometimes rambling and fragmented ideas. The handsome actor adopts a more homely persona in Hart, suffering rejection after rejection throughout the evening.

The glitz of Broadway is enshrouded within the walls of Sardi’s, famous for showcasing caricatures of Broadway celebrities. In satisfying form, a close-up of a caricature of Hart clings to the wall as Blue Moon ends, presumably long after his death.

Briefly skated over is Hart’s sexuality, said to lean more toward homosexuality than is ever more than alluded to, which is a disappointment. The closest the film comes to any dissection of this nature is when Hart invites a delivery boy to an afterparty and has a a conversation with Morty in the men’s room.

Both story points go nowhere. Instead, Hart mostly pines over Elizabeth.

The winning formula is the dialogue, sometimes teetering off course when Hart goes off on tangents. Still, the central concept of a misunderstood and underappreciated creative genius is received loud and clear.

While good, Qualley and Cannavale are never given great moments to show off their acting chops. The best supporting player is Andrew Scott, who provides entertaining banter while playing opposite Hawke.

Linklater offers up a talkative, cerebral film about the celebrations and heartbreaks of life through art. Through enriching conversations, Blue Moon (2025) delivers a thought-provoking dialogue-heavy cinema that is an intelligent, confined experience.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor-Ethan Hawke, Best Original Screenplay

2025 Films, Brian Kirk, Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Laurel Marsden, Marc Menchaca, Thriller

Dead of Winter-2025

January 20, 2026 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Dead of Winter-2025

Director Brian Kirk

Starring Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca

Scott’s Review #1,513

Reviewed January 20, 2026

Grade: A-

The brilliant Emma Thompson, known for Howard’s End (1992) and a bevy of other quality films, stars in and executive produces Dead of Winter (2025), a perfect movie to watch in January. If one is fortunate enough to watch on a blustery, cold, or snowy night, all the better for an ideal atmosphere.

The thriller is unpredictable and downright touching, largely thanks to Thompson, who leads the charge emotionally. To see the actor shoot, stab, and catfight her way to a beautifully shot ending is icing on the cake.

Plus, trading her sophisticated British accent in for a folksy midwestern drawl is quite pleasing.

The elements are a huge win and the main attraction of the film, other than Thompson and the eerie timeliness of the United States’ Minnesota, the setting of the film, being in the top U.S. news in late 2025/early 2026.

The stark, empty vastness of the cold land is made even more potent by the endless whiteness of the snow-covered, curving roads, the tundra of the lake, and the lake house, where most of the action takes place.

While the story can be argued to be implausible and the ending fragile, bordering on silly, requiring suspension of disbelief, Thompson’s performance more than makes up for any weak fragments.

Hit by a blizzard, a grief-stricken loner named Barb (Thompson) gets lost among backroads near a Minnesota lake and stops for help at a remote cabin in the woods where she discovers drops of blood and a startled middle-aged man (Marc Menchaca) who can’t get rid of her fast enough.

She then discovers a young woman (Laurel Marsden) kidnapped by a desperate couple intent on murder. Isolated and without cell service, Barb realizes she is the woman’s only hope of survival.

Director Brian Kirk carefully places tender flashbacks of a young Barb and her husband Kirk from smitten youngsters to tragic seniors battling Kirk’s failing health and the in-between trials and tribulations of the couple over the years.

These scenes not only create an emotional investment in the audience, but also fill in the blanks about why Barb would be possessed to go ice fishing in the middle of nowhere, all alone.

Sprinkling bits of humor that make Barb appear a kindly woman rather than an incompetent bafoon, she is a salt-of-the-earth type who opposes violence. Thompson was undoubtedly influenced by Frances McDormand’s sheriff character Marge Gunderson in 1996’s Fargo.

In fact, there are multiple Fargo comparisons to explore for fans of the Coen Brothers’ film, covering plot, atmosphere, and characters.

Judy Greer and Menchaca provide solid support as the mismatched couple with deadly intentions, whose motives become clearer as the plot unfolds. Greer’s character is pretty unlikable despite softening towards the end, but her actions are peculiar from a logistical perspective, and her acting is of high quality.

Menchaca has the more sympathetic role, and not only because the actor performs his nude scene in freezing temperatures.

The finale is set underwater, and it is a teary yet satisfying sendoff for Barb and Kirk, who make the hardest-hearted viewer believe in true love and a testament to commitment.

Likely superceding any expectations set by filmmakers, Thompson gives a bravura performance through facial expressions alone, telling much of the sentimental part of the story through her bright blue, emotion-filled eyes, pulling the audience in.

I didn’t expect to enjoy Dead of Winter (2025), a film given little notice, nearly as much as I did.

2025 Films, Christoph Waltz, David Bradley, Drama, Felix Kammerer, Guillermo del Toro, Horror, Lars Mikkelsen, Mia Goth, Oscar Isaac, Science Fiction

Frankenstein-2025

January 15, 2026 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Frankenstein-2025

Director Guillermo del Toro

Starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth

Scott’s Review #1,510

Reviewed January 15, 2026

Grade: A

Guillermo del Toro, known for his astounding production and art design in his films, hits a home run with a remake of Frankenstein (2025) based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, unmasking a beautifully crafted film.

He pulls out all the stops to achieve an exquisite gothic look that is hard not to be mesmerized by. It reminds me of the HBO series Penny Dreadful (2014-2016) in both its subject matter and its visual style.

I worried that the sets and designs would usurp the story, but especially in the final act, the film becomes very character-driven, especially the Creature, played by Jacob Elordi. It is easy to garner sympathy for his character as the story progresses and he goes from bald and alien-like to disheveled and wild-looking.

The film is divided into three chapters: Prelude, Victor’s Tale, and The Creature’s Tale, so the pace is structured with shifting perspectives. This is a wise move.

Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) is a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

The inclusion of Victor’s brother, William (Felix Kammerer), Elizabeth (Mia Goth), and the Blind Man (David Bradley) adds interesting and potent supporting characters who help reveal the intentions of the more prominent characters.

Mesmerizing are the sequences in the dark, evening settings, and especially within the grandiose walls of the estate where William and Elizabeth are to be married.

The cool blueish hues amongst the glowing burning candlelight provide a warm yet gruesome tone. As Elizabeth, clad in her pale white wedding dress, is carried down the bold staircase by the creature, her abdomen is caked in scarlet red blood, amid falling flower petals, another example of the powerful visuals.

In contrast, the daytime sequences usually take place amid a blustery snowstorm or in frigid, barren wastelands, with a very white color palette. Del Toro doesn’t even need to use wind sounds to portray the frigid landscape perfectly.

Lastly, the costumes are award-worthy. From the seventeenth-century wedding outfits the attendees wear to the filthy rags the Creature dons, all are well defined by societal class. The kindly Blind Man wears modest attire and lives in a barren forest area.

While both are superior in excellence and storytelling, 2025’s Frankenstein is vastly different from the 1931 version directed by James Whale and starring legendary horror actor Boris Karloff. Made nearly one hundred (gasp!) years apart, they are dissimilar in ways, and the former is more faithful to Shelley’s novel.

Elordi deserves kudos for infusing the Creature with humanity and sympathy, a character that many perceive as nothing more than a monster. His kindness and compassion mask the torture and pain he feels, wishing for death at nearly every turn.

The hulking actor is a perfect fit from a physical perspective, lumbering along the terrain and brooding with pain. His tentative relationship with Elizabeth is touching to see, and the future possibilities are endless if not for tragedy.

Isaac and Goth are also impressive. As the true film villain, Isaac’s Frankenstein is also tortured but turns to lies and deception to mask his pain. Goth, parlaying from indie horror into mainstream cinema, is one to watch as she chooses her next roles.

The lovely male relationship between the creature and the blind man is a true testament to kindness and what friendship is all about.

With his legendary visual touch, Guillermo Del Toro resurrects Frankenstein (2025) with a magnificent, nearly operatic offering that’s gloriously gothic and heartbreaking, with exceptional performances and visual mastery.

In this case, his story matches his visuals.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor-Jacob Elordi, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Sound

2025 Films, Biography, Craig Brewer, Drama, Ella Anderson, Erika Slezak, Fisher Stevens, Hugh Jackman, Jim Belushi, Kate Hudson, King Princess, Michael Imperioli, Mustafa Shakir

Song Sung Blue-2025

January 5, 2026 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Song Sung Blue-2025

Director Craig Brewer

Starring Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson

Scott’s Review #1,507

Reviewed January 5, 2026

Grade: A

Knowing nothing about the film Song Sung Blue (2025) other than brief snippets of a trailer, it wasn’t on my radar to see. A sole Golden Globe Awards nomination by star Kate Hudson felt like a sentimental effort rather than merit.

Appearing to be little more than a feel-good holiday time release with a sprinkling of schmaltz and a money grab to nostalgic fans of entertainer Neil Diamond, I hesitated to go to the theater to see it.

To my immediate surprise and delight, the theater was nearly full, an anomaly in today’s quick-to-streaming world, but the importance of movie theaters is a topic for another day.

While Song Sung Blue is a delightful crowd pleaser and the songs are catchy and infectious, there is a darkness to the story, based on real-life events, that I didn’t see coming.

By combining a local singing duo’s triumph with tragedy, the film creates a perfect counterbalance that had me and the audience I was with in both tears and chuckles.

The project appears to be based on a 2008 documentary about the real-life couple.

The film stars Hugh Jackman and Hudson as Mike and Claire Sardina, who perform as the Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder in their local area of Wisconsin, circa the 1990s.

They are struggling blue-collar folks eeking out a living as an impersonator and a part-time hairdresser, respectively. While both are middle-aged, each with an ex-spouse and a teenage daughter, and tons of bills to pay, they nonetheless adore performing in any capacity and love the thrill of life.

Mike is a recovering alcoholic, and Claire suffers from bouts of depression. Still, they meet early in the film, fall in love, and marry almost immediately.

The actors Jackman and Hudson have enormous chemistry, which makes the film work so well. The audience instantly buys their connection, love of performing, and passion for music. Why couldn’t Mike and Claire have met years ago? It’s thanks to the actors that we wish they had.

While Jackman is terrific as the Diamond performer, dazzling and charismatic in each performance, he never usurps Hudson, nor is there a perception that she is merely a backup performer.

Truth be told, I was more enamored with Hudson’s performance by a hair. Immediately drawing me in with her spot-on Midwestern accent, which never wavered, her depiction of a single middle-aged mom living in the suburbs is perfection.

Trying to be calm but occasionally exploding with rage or bursts of gleeful excitement, Hudson never overacts or makes Claire seem ridiculous. Her late-1980s crappy car, discount-rack clothes, and heart-of-gold characterization work so well.

To cement the dysfunctional yet strong family’s bond, Mike’s daughter, Angelina (King Princess), and Claire’s daughter, Rachel (Ella Anderson), instantly bond. Joined by Claire’s son, Dayna, the family structure is set.

As essential add-ons, diversity is incorporated through family friends who represent ethnic, multicultural, and LGBTQ+ communities.

These strong bonds are crucial because, before Mike and Claire can even savor the success of becoming the opening band for a Pearl Jam concert and performing with singer Eddie Vedder, tragedy strikes when a terrible accident changes their lives forever.

The first of the family tragedies hits like a ton of bricks and is so brilliantly filmed. My audience gasped in pure shock at the turn of events. A mini sigh of relief at the hint that it’s all a dream is quickly extinguished by reality, making the sequence all the more powerful.

Craig Brewer, who both directs excellently and also writes the screenplay, must love music. He delves deep into Diamond’s catalog, mentioning more obscure songs like ‘Soolaimon’ besides the obvious mainstays, ‘Sweet Caroline’ and the title track.

Thanks to pitch-perfect performances by Jackman and Hudson, Song Sung Blue (2025) is paced perfectly and hits every emotional chord. With humor, heart, and drama, it delivers a fitting tribute to one of the most beloved singer-songwriters in modern music history.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress-Kate Hudson

2025 Films, Art, Drama, Elle Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, International, International Drama, Joachim Trier, Norwegian, Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård

Sentimental Value-2025

December 22, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Sentimental Value-2025

Director Joachim Trier

Starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Elle Fanning

Scott’s Review #1,506

Reviewed December 22, 2025

Grade: A

Sentimental Value (2025) is a Norwegian art film with powerful themes of love and loss, suicide, intergenerational connections, family relationships, and cinema. The intertwining of the components makes the film both dark and hopeful, thanks to beautiful, layered performances.

It is brooding, thought-provoking, and relatable in many ways, mostly showcasing quality writing and excellent acting. Not as much of Norway’s majestic countryside is shown, especially in Oslo, where the film is set, as I had hoped.

Right off the bat, the audience receives narration about a house and the generations of events, some happy and some tragic, that have occurred over the years. The house, while changed, has persevered and has become a character in the film.

One could correlate the struggles of the house with those of life; in the film, the characters are deeply flawed and troubled, suffering from alcoholism and paranoia.

After their mother dies, two sisters, Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film.

The film is personal about Gustav’s frailty following his mother’s death by suicide.

When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers Gustav has given her part to an eager, yet cerebral, young Hollywood star played by Elle Fanning, who is a new fan of Gustav’s older work.

The past and deeply harbored secrets come to the surface as the characters struggle to maintain balance between their emotions and their interpretations of various life events.

An early sequence set in a theater sets the tone. Nora, a fabulous stage actor, suffers from severe stage fright, nearly rendering her unable to take the stage. The crew backstage scurries to calm her nerves and convince her to perform seconds before her cue. They’ve been through this before.

Nora is neurotic and, in fact, attempted suicide, which worries Agnes whenever there is a lapse in communication with her sister.

Other complexities, such as Gustav’s return, an unsuccessful relationship, and insecurities, affect Nora, especially when Rachel, the starlet, enters the picture.

But the winning formula is that Sentimental Value is not ‘the Nora show’. Agnes, Gustav, and Rachel are equally showcased and explored, making the film an ensemble piece.

Agnes, who starred in one of Gustav’s films as a young girl, is now married with a child and has left the industry far behind. Does she harbor regrets?

An aging Gustav has seen the cinematic world change from grand, theater-style film work to television-style streaming platforms like Netflix, taking over. Has the world left him behind?

And young Rachel is frustrated by her limited acting roles, which have made her a star but don’t showcase her true talent or love of her craft. Does she even have talent, she wonders?

As a cinemaphile, Sentimental Value left me pondering the state of cinema in a time of limited theatergoers and the popularity of watching films at home on a television, or worse, on a mobile phone.

But the success and emotion of Sentimental Value come through its characters, Nora, Agnes, Gustav, and Rachel.

The importance of the house also amazed me. As in life, things constantly evolve and change, setbacks are experienced, life and death come and go, and the cycle of life continues.

Sentimental Value (2025) is a fantastic film with main themes about life and forgiveness. It is also a stark reminder, without being preachy, about the monumental importance of mental wellness and the crippling effects mental illness can have on people.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-Joachim Trier, Best Actress-Renate Reinsve, Best Supporting Actor-Stellan Skarsgård, Best Supporting Actress-Elle Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature, Best Film Editing

2025 Films, Chloé Zhao, Drama, Emily Watson, Historical Drama, Jacobi Jupe, Jessie Buckley, Joe Alwyn, Noah Jupe, Paul Mescal, Sam Mendes, Steven Spielberg

Hamnet-2025

December 8, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Hamnet-2025

Director Chloé Zhao

Starring Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal

Scott’s Review #1,505

Reviewed December 8, 2025

Grade: A

For lovers of William Shakespeare, the famous sixteenth-century playwright, poet, and actor, Hamnet (2025) is highly recommended for its recognition of his renowned tragedy, Hamlet, written in 1599 or 1600.

Any literature nut will ooze with pleasure since the tragic play is the basis for the entire film, and its creation is based on the events in the movie. This allows viewers to understand the reason for it, despite some fictionalization.

A bonus is a portion of it being performed on stage late in the movie.

And for cinemaphiles, Hamnet contains gorgeous cinematography, raw, emotionally charged acting, and a believable love story mired in heartbreak and ultimately hopefulness.

The film’s story dramatizes the marriage between Anne Hathaway (Agnes in the movie), played by Jessie Buckley, and William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), and the impact of the tragic death of their eleven-year-old son, Hamnet, on their relationship, which inspired Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.

Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg produced the film, which ensured it was made, and Chloé Zhao directed it. The financial help undoubtedly made sure (hopefully) that Zhao could make the film she wanted, and the final product looks like her vision.

Zhao is well known for directing Nomadland (2021), a movie with powerful landscapes, and Hamnet is no different in its exterior riches, though it is set in the late 1500s rather than the present.

She includes peaceful green forests, lush with quiet, thoughtful sequences, leading the viewer to enjoy the tranquility and mystique rather than to incorporate a storyline purpose.

It’s an overall vibe.

As characters wander along a path or a garden, the audio enhancement of birds chirping pairs well with greenery or flowers lit with golden sunshine.

A colder, grey vibe enshrouds the interior scenes of humble cottages, where characters peel boiled eggs, perform tedious household tasks, or share a modest meal.

I totally bought the authenticity of the 16th and 17th-century locales, costumes, sets, and characters. This buy-in did wonders to reflect the believability of everything else.

The leading actors get an A+ for chemistry and connection, with powerfully acted, sometimes guttural scenes, scene after scene.

From the first garden scene, when Buckley and Mescal, strangers, meet amid instant attraction and infatuation, the scene smolders with fiery romance. How the actors conjured that amount of intensity is remarkable.

They are forever linked when they give in to their attraction, shortly after which results in a pregnancy, much to the chagrin of his family.

Separately, Agnes is intriguing and spiritual, rumored to be the daughter of a forest witch. Before her death, Agnes’ mother taught her herbal lore, which Agnes later uses to heal a cut on William’s forehead.

William is thoughtful, bookish, and very introspective. His intensity towards his writing and art is inspiring.

The characters get along, and Agnes even insists he go to London, where he can work in a proper environment and better understand his creative mindset.

Buckley especially delivers the goods with ferocious acting and startling realism.

Equally noteworthy are Jacobi and Noah Jupe, who play the real Hamlet and the stage Hamlet. Brothers in real life, both look similar and possess top-notch acting skills.

And can Emily Watson (playing Mary Shakespeare) not be great in anything?

A minor gripe is why Buckley is positioned as the lead actress while Mescal is deemed the supporting actor. As equals, it’s not her story versus his; together, they share the depth of the storyline as a pair. And Shakespeare as a supporting character doesn’t sound right.

Destined to be rewarded for its artistic merit, humanistic integrity, and truthful approach, Hamnet (2025) is a beautifully slow-building film. It elicits heartwarming cinematic perfection.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-Chloé Zhao, Best Actress-Jessie Buckley, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Production Design

2025 Films, Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri, Chloë Sevigny, Julia Roberts, Luca Guadagnino, Michael Stuhlbarg, Thriller

After the Hunt-2025

November 29, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

After the Hunt-2025

Director Luca Guadagnino

Starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield

Scott’s Review #1,504

Reviewed November 29, 2025

Grade: B+

After the Hunt (2025) is a thriller mired in questions and secrets, which, from the outset, director Luca Guadagnino successfully creates. An atmosphere of the Yale University elitist intelligentsia, enshrouded in internal chaos, just reeking to be let go.

Julia Roberts reemerges into the awards conversation with a startlingly raw and introspective performance as Alma, a professor harboring a secret past that is invaded by present circumstances.

Guadagnino, known for the brilliant LGBTQ+-themed Call Me by Your Name (2017), usually incorporates emotional complexity, eroticism, and lavish visuals into his work. This one is highly character-driven, embellishing the thoughts and desires of the leads.

For the viewer, After the Hunt remains compelling because we don’t know whom to believe, with allegiances teetering from character to character, including Alma herself.

Alma drinks too much, pops pills, and has a secret apartment away from her eccentric husband, Frederick, wonderfully played by Michael Stuhlbarg. Despite being a psychiatrist, he coddles Alma and serves as her househusband rather than an equal, causing him peculiar bouts of weird behavior.

Meanwhile, Alma is desperately seeking tenure at Yale.

At a boozy party at Alma’s house one night, amid societal and philosophical conversations, Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), one of her students, uncovers a secret about Alma while snooping in her bathroom.

Later, Maggie, who is black and gay, leaves the party with Hank, one of Alma’s handsome colleagues (Andrew Garfield).

The next morning, Alma finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when Maggie, a star student, levels an accusation against Hank, claiming she was sexually assaulted.

As the onion is peeled back, it is discovered that Maggie plagiarized a paper and has wealthy parents who help the University maintain its financial status. She is also obsessed with Alma, even wearing the same shade of fingernail polish.

At the same time, Hank is a volatile hothead with a vicious temper. Does he have a romantic past with Alma?

Who should Alma believe, and what should the audience think? Are we supposed to side with Maggie because it’s politically correct to believe a young black female over a white male?

Maggie immediately put me off. Was that the intention? I wanted to like her, but just didn’t. This was even before it was known that she was privileged.

By contrast, I immediately did like Hank. His passion for philosophy and his yearning for debate about the younger generation being coddled resonated with me.

Guadagnino offers more than solely a compelling story in After the Hunt.

As a Connecticut resident, the exterior locales are powerful. Rich camera shots of the massive Yale campus, especially on snowy days, provide wonderful texture to the film. A small, cruddy yet cozy Indian diner, strangely empty, serves as a meeting point for two poignant scenes.

Besides the campus, New Haven, Connecticut, is not the ritzy Greenwich, Connecticut, by any means, and Guadagnino must have realized this by incorporating ugly waterside views and glimpses of factories.

A quiet, introspective director, many scenes of Alma staring into the distance, in thought or pondering life, play well with philosophical debate scenes between faculty and students.

While the film’s pacing is slow, it works for me. And throughout the question remains of what Alma’s secret is and whether Hank sexually assaulted Maggie, or is it all lies?

The film is also reminiscent of Fatal Attraction (1987) or Single White Female (1992). The key to the film may lie in Maggie’s obsession with Alma, which slowly unfolds.

In what may be Julia Roberts’ best film role to date, After the Hunt (2025) doesn’t hit a home run with a slightly ambiguous, unsatisfying ending, but with stellar performances from Roberts, Edebiri, Garfield, and Stuhlbarg, it’s enough to warrant a watch.

"Weird Al" Yankovic, 2025 Films, Akiva Schaffer, Busta Rhymes, CCH Pounder, Comedy, Danny Huston, Dave Bautista, Kevin Durand, Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Priscilla Presley

The Naked Gun-2025

November 20, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

The Naked Gun-2025

Director Akiva Schaffer

Starring Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson

Scott’s Review #1,501

Reviewed November 20, 2025

Grade: B-

With different levels of cinema for audiences to choose from, The Naked Gun (2025), a reboot of a long-dormant franchise, is meant for a particular spoof comedy fan who expects goofiness over a heavy subject matter.

It’s not The Godfather (1972), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), or Vertigo (1958), and pondering a more profound meaning or luxuriating in great visual art will not happen.

Instead, for some tepid chuckles and escapist fare from a rough day at work or a family matter one is hoping to run away from, director Akiva Schaffer crafts a smirky one-liner riddled experience in lunacy.

The fourth in The Naked Gun franchise, and the first in over 30 years, the plot follows the son (Liam Neeson) of Lt. Frank Drebin, also named Frank Drebin, as he steps into his father’s footsteps to prevent the closure of Police Squad.

Fans know that Leslie Nielsen played bumbling Frank senior in the first three installments, while George Kennedy played his sidekick, Captain Ed Hocken. Priscilla Presley played love interest Jane Spencer.

Essentially, Nielsen is replaced by Neeson, Kennedy by Paul Walter Heiser, and Jane by Pamela Anderson.

Preseley does quickly appear in a cameo (if you could even call it that), sitting on a sofa watching television.

While it is familiar territory to someone like me, who has seen only one other in the series and barely remembers it, the pattern is very one-note and more of a retro greatest hits compilation than anything new and noteworthy.

If we’re talking the 1980s, think Police Academy for a similar reference, and there is little reason I see to dust the franchise off the shelf.

We meet the new Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr. of the LAPD Police Squad, who single-handedly dispatches a gang of bank robbers while disguised as a schoolgirl.

The fact that he morphs from a 3-foot-tall girl into a 6-foot-tall grown man is expected to be plausible.

Unbeknownst to Drebin, the bank heist is a distraction to steal a gadget called the “P.L.O.T. (“Primordial Law Of Toughness”) Device” from a safe deposit box by the film’s villain Richard Cane (Danny Huston), who is intent on reverting the human race to primal animals who kill each other.

This is to make sure that the world’s billionaires are safe to rule the planet.

The audience is not expected to wonder who will be left to serve the billionaires, or otherwise do the world’s grunt work.

The fewer plot points asked, the better.

Predictably, hard-edged Police Chief Davis (CCH Pounder) reassigns Frank when his over-the-top law enforcement becomes a legal liability.

From there, we watch Drebin eat bad food, have diarrhea, and suffer further embarrassments while working alongside Beth Davenport (Anderson), a crime novelist, to figure out why her brother died in a car accident deemed a suicide.

It’s hard to believe Neeson is the same actor who received an Oscar nomination for playing Oskar Schindler in the 1993 masterpiece Schindler’s List.

Still, shifting to an action star in 2008 proves that some actors accept projects to stay relevant.

While the plot is inane and easy to dissect with over-the-top plot points, overacting, and silly potty jokes, it can almost be overlooked for simple moments that bring a sliver of joy.

The chemistry between Neeson and Anderson is not bad, mainly because the actors know how to create it. As they banter and deliver monotone dialogue, the woodenness actually becomes an asset.

The scenes that made me smile were solely between the duo as they embraced the lines served to them to the best of their ability. Creating enough comic wit to remain entertaining, I clamored for more between the two and less of the ridiculousness of everything else.

Neeson and Anderson are the saving grace in an otherwise shit show.

The Naked Gun (2025) knows what kind of film it is, which helps level-set expectations. There is something refreshingly silly about anticipating a bad movie and having fun with it nonetheless.

2025 Films, Aidan Delbis, Alicia Silverstone, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Stavros Halkias, Thriller, Yorgos Lanthimos

Bugonia-2025

November 8, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Bugonia-2025

Director Yorgos Lanthimos

Starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons

Scott’s Review #1,499

Reviewed November 8, 2025

Grade: A

Going into the movie theater to see Bugonia (2025), I had the apt knowledge that off-center iconoclast Yorgos Lanthimos directed the film once again using his muse, superstar Emma Stone, in his latest project.

Responsible for the weird efforts like The Favourite (2018), Poor Things (2023), and a bizarre early effort, Dogtooth (2009), I knew I was in store for something off-kilter if not altogether unhinged.

My mouth salivated for something deranged, and I was not disappointed.

I hoped that no one in the theater was expecting something like La La Land (2016), also starring Stone. No disrespect intended, since I adore that film, but a story about a chirpy aspiring actress conquering Hollywood is hardly a Lanthimos storyline.

The creative Greek director hits a home run with Bugonia while subsequently convincing Stone to shave her head and take on a bald role.

Like several other recently released films, Lanthimos critiques modern society and the decisions made by this generation of human beings. He challenges the audience to ask if people have simply fucked up the Earth.

Should we start over from the dinosaur era and try to get things right?

By the time the credits rolled and a few nervous chuckles had enveloped the audience, I knew that not everyone had grasped this Lanthimos film.

Sigh.

Without spoiling the film, a late-inning surprise catapulted Bugonia from very good to exceptional, leaving me pondering the conclusion and its ramifications for days.

The idea is based on the 2003 South Korean film ‘Save the Green Planet!’ by Jang Joon-hwan. Bugonia follows two young men, led by a spectacular performance by Jesse Plemons, who kidnap a powerful CEO (Stone), suspecting that she is secretly an alien intent on destroying Earth.

Ludicrous as it sounds, the plot begins to unravel as Plemons and Stone play kidnapper and kidnappee against the backdrop of a dilapidated suburban house, each trying to outsmart the other using reasoning and conspiracy theories to argue their case.

It becomes a game of chess.

Stone’s Michelle Fuller, the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company, who has a secret connection to Plemons’s Teddy Gatz, now a beekeeper, initially assumes Teddy is dimwitted and an easy target to outmaneuver.

Along with Teddy’s cousin, Don (Aidan Delbis), an intellectually disabled young man, they accost and keep Michelle bound and tied in their basement, encouraging her to confess to being an alien and taking them back to her planet at the upcoming lunar eclipse.

The audience goes along for the ride, wondering if the characters are who they seem to be and exactly how the wacky plot will play out.

Will Michelle ultimately escape? Will the more sympathetic Don come to Michelle’s rescue?

The plot thickens when flashbacks reveal a connection between Teddy’s mother, Sandy (Alicia Silverstone), and Michelle.

Is Teddy seeking revenge, or does he believe Michelle is an alien? Or both?

Stone can’t do enough with her large green eyes, only enhanced by her bald head, which Teddy and Don shave. Her shock at both being shaved bald and accused of being an alien elicits comical moments from the actor.

Her timing is perfect as she emits corporate jargon meant to placate and manipulate Teddy. She assumes she can talk her way out of her crisis by putting on her CEO hat, which is intended to intimidate him.

The fun part is that we don’t know whether to root for Michelle or root for Teddy.

Stone and Plemons play off each other so well, keeping the dialogue juicy and crisp, and entirely engaging the audience.

Bugonia (2025) offers up twisted twists and turns set against delicious cinematography and a couple of blood-spurting dark comedy moments.

A cringy torture scene and a suggested childhood molestation only add to the bizarre puzzle that Lanthimos creates.

Fans of the director will celebrate and champion the film for its uniqueness and dizzying thrill rides. Hopefully, he will continue to inspire young filmmakers to create unconventional and thought-provoking offerings.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress-Emma Stone, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score

2025 Films, Hailee Steinfeld, Horror, Jack O'Connell, Li Jun Li, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Omar Benson Miller, Ryan Coogler, Wunmi Mosaku

Sinners-2025

October 31, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Sinners-2025

Director Ryan Coogler

Starring Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton

Scott’s Review #1,498

Reviewed October 31, 2025

Grade: B+

After hearing so much positivity about Sinners (2025), director Ryan Coogler’s latest film, which shifts from independent (Fruitvale Station, 2013) and Marvel (Black Panther, 2018) films to the horror genre, I excitedly waited months to see it.

Coogler shifts into a vein more like Jordan Peele, a contemporary director known for daring horror message offerings like Get Out (2017) and Us (2019).

While very good, it’s not the A+ daring, horrific, extravaganza I was expecting. The tone is dark, mysterious, and compelling, but it takes an awfully long time to actually get going despite a looming expectation of bloody events to come.

Or maybe that’s because my expectations told me to await thrills and gore mixed with a powerful storyline.

Nonetheless, had I not listened to the buzz, I might have been more satisfied. Instead, I was impressed but not blown away.

Sinners reminded me very much of the HBO series True Blood (2008-2014), with its southern vampire fantasy/horror mix, but featuring an almost entirely black cast and a lot of music.

Set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta, the film stars Michael B. Jordan in dual roles as twin brothers, ‘Smoke’ and ‘Stack’ Moore, one of whom is a criminal, who return to their hometown, where they confront a supernatural evil.

The brothers return from Chicago, where they have made an illegal fortune, and purchase a sawmill from a racist landowner to start a juke joint for the local Black community.

They reconnect with local friends and musicians, offering substantial amounts of money to help make opening night a grand experience.

Coogler wisely begins the film, which takes place over the course of a twenty-four-hour period, the morning after the thrilling Saturday night events, so we somewhat know something bad will happen.

Sammie Moore (Miles Caton), the brother’s cousin, staggers into his preacher father’s church during services, clutching his coveted guitar. He is an aspiring blues musician and is wounded.

Michael B. Jordan, clearly the star of the film and frequently in Coogler films, is an Oscar hopeful by portraying dual roles. With a good versus evil vibe, he may make the cut, given the differing personalities fleshed out in the parts.

While offering decent cinematography and a southern flavor that adds dimensions, it takes so long for much action to arrive that the payoff isn’t as satisfying as I’d like.

Sure, the last forty-five minutes work well as the dusk-to-dawn fight scenes, a workable whodunit of who’s a vampire and who isn’t a vampire, and hold your breath moments of which characters will unwittingly invite a vampire inside.

The last sequence is excellent when 1932 suddenly turns into the 1990s, and one character is still left alive. The film ends happily as the character realizes a pact made in the ghastly night years ago has allowed him to live.

A question repeatedly dangled before the audience’s noses like a carrot before a horse is whether we would give in to temptation and live forever as a vampire.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful never to age? I’ll admit to realizing the appeal.

The supporting characters, including Stack’s girlfriend, Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), the bouncer, Cornbread (Omar Benson Miller), and Smoke’s estranged wife, Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), deliver strong performances.

However, the southern accents occasionally feel overdone, but the lovely costumes never do.

Neither good nor bad, the characters don’t look genuine from the 1930s, and there is more inclusion (a Korean family in the deep south?) than in real life.

Still, the film works as a fantasy, right?

Coogler gets points for creativity and for showcasing the racism of the 1930s that still exists today, but treads lightly on going full throttle with any message.

Instead, he shows that strong black characters can forge their own success in a racist world, accompanied by a toe-tapping melody and bluesy guitars.

Sinners (2025) crosses genres like horror, supernatural, fantasy, and musical, with some sexy scenes of blood and sex amid music. The creativity is there, but it’s a slow build.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-Ryan Coogler, Best Actor-Michael B. Jordan, Best Supporting Actor-Delroy Lindo, Best Supporting Actress-Wunmi Mosaku, Best Original Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Original Song-“I Lied to You”, Best Production Design, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects

2025 Films, Action, Alana Haim, Benicio del Toro, Chase Infiniti, Crime Thriller, Favorite Film of the Year, Kevin Tighe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Paul Thomas Anderson, Regina Hall, Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor, Thriller, Tony Goldwyn

One Battle After Another-2025

October 20, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

One Battle After Another-2025

Director Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti

Scott’s Review #1,497

Reviewed October 20, 2025

Grade: A

In my opinion, one of the modern great directors, Paul Thomas Anderson, has released One Battle After Another (2025), a film rich in thrills and relevance. Sought to be made for years, the film is inspired by the 1990 novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, with some of Anderson’s narratives peppered in.

Undoubtedly, Anderson was influenced by the current state of the United States regarding immigration issues and the tyranny withinICE (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

While immigration is not a new hot-button issue, the inhumanity heaped onto ‘illegal immigrants’ and some US citizens is current as well as powerful.

Additionally, a frightening tone of racism and ‘white power’ is an underlying theme of the film, contrasting covert hatred by a group of white supremacists with the humanity of revolutionaries who attack the political system.

Therefore, the film has an overwhelming modern feel.

Otherwise, the breakneck twists, turns, and action make One Battle After Another the crown jewel of storytelling fun and an Anderson offering that could easily be added to his top 5 of all time.

Events follow an ex-revolutionary explosive device expert, “Ghetto” Pat Calhoun / “Rocketman” / Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is forced back into his former combative lifestyle when a corrupt military officer pursues him and his daughter.

With new identities, they had assumed they could live a peaceful life of tranquility, but they were in for a rude awakening.

Set in recent times, the film begins 15 years before events later in the story, yet maintains a clear link. This ensures the audience is invested in the characters, especially in the latter half, as we get to know them better.

While DiCaprio can never deliver a bad performance and firmly grips the lead role as the intelligent yet comically clumsy Bob, other actors shine, making One Battle After Another an ensemble piece dripping with award-worthy performances and hefty accolades.

DiCaprio improvises his way through the script, with stutters and stammering enveloping his character, endowing him with endearing qualities like forgetting a vital password or falling off a roof. Nonetheless, he has sentimental and introspective moments about his life and his teenage daughter, Willa Ferguson/Charlene Calhoun, played by Chase Infiniti.

Infiniti is tremendous in her breakout role as a mixed-race girl trying to lead an everyday life while paying for the crimes and mistakes of her parents.

Playing confident, yet scared and vulnerable, Infiniti is quite the find. Is she destined to follow in her parents’ footsteps?

Teyana Taylor is brutally talented as she plays Perfidia Beverly Hills, a tough as nails, take no prisoners, kick ass young woman known to tease and humiliate her prey strictly for laughs.

Regina Hall and Benicio del Toro bring their kind-hearted, supportive characters to life with emotional flair and some needed humor, especially from del Toro.

The standout, however, is Sean Penn. Giving a bravura performance as the hated and racist Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw, a military officer who pursues the French 75, he sneers and pouts, never playing the character over the top or for laughs.

He truly believes he comes from a superior race while bedding the women he despises.

A three-way highway car chase scene nearly rivals classic sequences in The French Connection (1971) and The Getaway (1972). As three separate drivers’ points of view are featured along a hilly highway with deadly results, the audience is treated to rear-view mirror and reaction shots.

I honestly did not know what would happen next and was delighted at the outcome.

Hopefully, as the years go by, One Battle After Another (2025) will be remembered for embracing different genres and delivering a powerhouse final product. With great acting, editing, storytelling, and action, the film has it all.

Add in a timely message, and you’ve got yourself a gem.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-Paul Thomas Anderson, Best Actor-Leonardo DiCaprio, Best Supporting Actor-Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn, Best Supporting Actress-Teyana Taylor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Sound

2025 Films, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alfie Williams, Cillian Murphy, Danny Boyle, Edvin Ryding, Horror, Jack O'Connell, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes

28 Years Later-2025

October 13, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

28 Years Later-2025

Director Danny Boyle

Starring Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alfie Williams

Scott’s Review #1,496

Reviewed October 13, 2025

Grade: B

For loyal fans of the 28 Days Later film franchise, launched in 2002, 28 Years Later (2025) may be a disappointment.

Not what I expected, the film has less raw horror than its two predecessors, but it adds a deeper emotional connection, linking various characters together.

A family is introduced, which helps provide character depth. Apparently, 28 Years Later is the first of a new trilogy, which may leave the first two installments by the wayside.

Still, the film is uneven and meanders quite a bit until the final thirty minutes or so, when I felt more invested in the events.

This is surprising, given the participation of Academy Award-winning participants, including director Danny Boyle, writer Alex Garland, and actor Cillian Murphy, as Executive Producer. It also features the original cinematographer (Anthony Dod Mantle), so I’m surprised how little connection it has to the original.

A weak sub-plot featuring Sir Jimmy Crystal, the leader of the Jimmy Savile–inspired “Jimmy” cult, and a survivor of the original outbreak is the only connection.

It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a heavily enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected.

One group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily defended causeway.

When Spike (Alfie Williams), the twelve-year-old son of Jamie and Isla (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer), leaves the island on a mission to find help for his ailing mum, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but also other survivors.

He encounters characters like “Samson”, a physically imposing Alpha leader of the infected, the odd Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), a former doctor and survivor of the outbreak, and a pregnant infected woman.

Isla, who teeters in and out of sanity, is along for the ride.

Comer, known for the television series Killing Eve (2018-2022), has begun to forge her way into feature films and is the standout performer.

Isla suffers from a mentally debilitating disease, but it’s unclear what the issue is. She mostly lies in bed, sleeping or suffering from excruciating headaches. It’s not until the final act that Comer’s work is stellar.

When she becomes attached to a healthy newborn baby, her emotional connection to Spike and her memories of time spent with her father are linked.

These are the best scenes, and when Comer shines brightly. She is aided by the inclusion of Fiennes as the sympathetic doctor.

This proves that superior actors can make any film better as long as they infuse their talents into the script, which Comer and Fiennes do. They have tremendous chemistry during their limited scenes, offering humane and tender moments. Young Williams also does good work.

The cinematography is impressive. Lavish outdoorsy sequences in meadows or amidst a raging fire are lucid and colorful. An abandoned train set is dressed perfectly with dingy seats overgrown with plants and weeds. When the characters race through the aisles, there’s a realism to the scene.

The rest of the film has issues, especially weak subplots.

There’s a bit too much going on, so the result feels messy. Visions, memories, Jamie cheats on Isla while Spike watches, Spike pulls a knife on dad, the alpha is on the loose, a mysterious doctor, a fire, and other such additions are included.

Some work better than others.

A hunting expedition where Jamie teaches Spike to hunt is superfluous and clichéd. Doesn’t almost every post-apocalyptic film or television show feature someone showing someone else how to hunt?

The film also feels remarkably similar to television’s The Walking Dead or The Last of Us, suggesting that the filmmakers may have been riding a trend rather than creating their own original work.

Why make the father sympathetic, then non-sympathetic? Is it a way to enhance Isla’s and Spike’s bond?

The same occurs later when a kind Swedish soldier (Edvin Ryding) debuts, only to become unlikable minutes later. Is this to justify his head being torn from his body? An incredible scene by the way.

28 Years Later (2025) has some impressive story and technical tidbits, marginally giving it a recommendation for fans of the franchise. Otherwise, there isn’t enough quality content to entice new viewers.

2025 Films, Alden Ehrenreich, Amy Madigan, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong, Cary Christopher, Horror, Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, June Diane Raphael, Justin Long, Toby Huss, Zach Cregger

Weapons-2025

October 5, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Weapons-2025

Director Zach Cregger

Starring Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Amy Madigan

Scott’s Review #1,495

Reviewed October 5, 2025

Grade: A

Zach Cregger, who made his directorial debut with Barbarian in 2022, may have made his way to the big leagues with Weapons (2025), a highly original film rumored to have a follow-up prequel in the works.

One of his characters, the wicked Aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan), is already becoming a household name and a potential Halloween costume idea.

The fabulous combination of tone, mystery, and genuinely frightening moments makes Weapons an edge-of-your-seat experience.

And who doesn’t find the disappearance of children a perfect horror premise?

Furthermore, the inclusion of chapters dedicated to each central character does wonders to retain the intrigue. Each character has a connection to others, making each subsequent chapter enthralling as viewers realize the connections.

Weapons is one of the best horror films I’ve seen in recent years.

Cregger masterfully gets the film off to a suspenseful and foreboding start with a quiet narration by a child. The youngster explains how one night at exactly 2:17 am, seventeen children left the safety of their suburban Pennsylvania homes and fled into the night, missing without a trace.

All but one child from the same class is included.

Alex (Cary Christopher), who has a strange connection to Aunt Gladys, is mercifully spared.

The rest of the town is left wondering what is behind their disappearance as fingers start to point towards suspects, most notably Justine (Julia Garner), the classroom teacher with a troubled past.

The ensuing witch hunt involving Justine is terrific. We tag along with the haggard teacher to the liquor store as she buys vodka in preparation for a boozy night alone in her small house, hoping to escape her troubles.

Alone, in the dark, and in a small town is frightening enough, but when a mysterious person knocks on her door and vandalizes her car, we feel vulnerable along with the character.

But is Justine as innocent as she appears?

When her chapter ends, and other characters like cop Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), James (Austin Abrams), a homeless drug addict and burglar, and Archer (Josh Brolin), a construction contractor and the father of Matthew, one of the missing children, get their backstories, the dots start to connect.

Aunt Gladys doesn’t appear for quite a while except in sudden, eerie background shots, but when she does, she immediately takes over the film.

As Alex’s elderly aunt (or is she only posing?), she quickly becomes the main antagonist of the film. Recently arrived in town, she is clad in a short, curly, ginger wig, large amounts of red lipstick, blue eyeshadow, fake eyelashes, and fake eyebrows, all behind thick-framed, tinted sunglasses.

On the surface, she appears to be an odd, old eccentric woman, but jovial and good-natured.

I wonder if Cregger patterned her after Minnie, played by Ruth Gordon, the eccentric woman revealed to be a witch in the 1968 masterpiece Rosemary’s Baby?

In one terrific scene, we almost see a sympathetic side to Aunt Gladys. She explains to Alex that neither a hospital nor water will help her recover from her terminal illness. There is a glimpse of kindness and humanity in her eyes before we recall her intentions.

There are also periodic jumps that come out of nowhere. When kindly principal Marcus (Benedict Wong) suddenly behaves out of character, we are startled. An odd woman brandishing a knife stumbles out of a doorway and lumbers to a car, cutting the hair of Justine.

Why, we wonder?

Many scenes are shot from a long-view angle without dialogue, which adds to the tension.

The finale combines a chase scene to end all chase scenes, blending horror and comedy in a way that, oddly, works as The Substance did in 2024. This might be the new trend in modern horror films.

Solidly infusing classic horror elements with mystery and intrigue, Cregger provides an unsettling experience that feels fresh and original.

He served as director, producer, writer, and co-musical scorer, proving that having only one chef in the kitchen often works wonders for creativity and structure.

Weapons (2025) has deservedly received critical acclaim while also enjoying box-office success, solidifying Cregger’s name on the cinematic map.

Oscar Nominations: Best Supporting Actress-Amy Madigan

2025 Films, Billy Campbell, Brandy Norwood, Chase Sui Wonders, Freddie Prinze Jr., Horror, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jonah Hauer-King, Madelyn Cline, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sarah Pidgeon, Slasher, Tyriq Withers

I Know What You Did Last Summer-2025

October 3, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

I Know What You Did Last Summer-2025

Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

Starring Chase Sui Wonders, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Madelyn Cline

Scott’s Review #1,494

Reviewed October 3, 2025

Grade: B+

The 2025 I Know What You Did Last Summer offering is pure nostalgia for fans of mainstream 1990s horror flicks. Those who love film franchises like Scream (1996-present) and Final Destination (2000-present) will be pretty pleased.

I adored watching the film and traveling back to my youth, although I was startled by the revelation that the young cinema stars of the 1990s are now almost 50 years old.

I only knew that Jennifer Love-Hewitt was returning by way of coming attraction trailers. Still, I had no idea that Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar were also returning, which added to my viewing pleasure.

It felt like catching up with old friends you haven’t seen in nearly thirty years.

While not a sequel to the 1997 original, it feels fresh with its clever ideas, twists and turns, and whodunit sensibilities, adding a refreshing dose of feminism that is timely.

This can undoubtedly be due in large part to being directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, a female director who also co-wrote the screenplay.

Just like in 1997, when five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident, they cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret rather than face the consequences.

A year later, their past comes back to haunt them when one of the friends receives a threatening note, and they realize that someone knows what they did last summer.

As one by one the friends are stalked by a killer, they discover this has happened before, and they turn to two survivors of the legendary Southport Massacre of 1997 for help.

The most fun is the whodunit factor and trying to figure out who is the one donning a fisherman’s cloak and brandishing a hook to slice and dice their victims to ribbons.

Or does Robinson borrow a gimmick from the Scream films and make it two killers?

Of course, the victim of the original summer tragedy shares a link with the killers, and plenty of red herrings are in store, adding to the enjoyment.

The rulebook is slightly bent to allow for even more female empowerment than the original, wisely bringing Love-Hewitt’s Julie James back into the fold.

Now older, wiser, and tougher, and a college professor, she serves as a coach and mentor to Ava Brucks (Chase Sui Wonders), the leader of the new group of friends.

In a cool bit of inclusion, the character of Ava is bisexual, having a passionate bathroom encounter with a rocker chick while also having an ex-boyfriend, Milo (Jonah Hauer-King).

It’s also revealed that Julie and Ray Bronson (played by Prinze Jr.) were once married and have a tumultuous past. This is appealing to viewers familiar with the duo from the original film.

Putting the soap opera trimmings aside, the main highlight of I Know What You Did Last Summer is the accident during the first summer, the chase scenes, and the kill scenes, and the film wisely provides many of these.

When Teddy (Tyriq Withers) and Danica (Madelyn Cline) go to a dark graveyard to snoop for information, it doesn’t bode well for either when the fisherman lurks nearby.

These straightforward yet compelling sequences blend seamlessly with the finale aboard a yacht and later in a bar. The twists and turns, as well as the killer reveal, are well-written and character-themed, building on history and making sense.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) successfully takes a stroll down memory lane while providing jumps, scares, and even a few laughs along the way.

2025 Films, Adam Stein, Brec Bassinger, Horror, Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Richard Harmon, Teo Briones, Tony Todd, Zach Lipovsky

Final Destination Bloodlines-2025

August 9, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Final Destination Bloodlines-2025

Director Zack Lipovsky, Adam Stein

Starring Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Brec Bassinger

Scott’s Review #1,489

Reviewed August 9, 2025

Grade: B+

Final Destination Bloodlines (2025) is the sixth installment in the Final Destination film franchise, but the first in fourteen years, making the film feel more like a relaunch than a retread.

I’ll gladly see any new (or old) chapters since I enjoy the once inventive premise, which is now familiar territory and part of the brand.

The plots are based on the idea of a small group of people who escape impending death after one visionary individual has a sudden premonition and warns them about a major disaster that is about to occur.

Of course, Death cannot be tricked for long.

After avoiding their deaths seen in the visions, the survivors are later killed one by one in bizarre accidents caused by an unseen force.

The unique deaths are the fun part. From a garbage truck compactor, a malfunctioning MRI machine, and a deadly vending machine, the anticipation is in the killings and how they will be showcased.

Events begin in 1969, marking the best segment of Final Destination Bloodlines and one of the greatest in the series.

Young adults, Iris (Brec Bassinger) and Paul (Max Lloyd-Jones), embark on a lavish opening celebration of the Skyview, a high-rise restaurant tower that resembles the Seattle Space Needle. He awkwardly plans to propose, and she intends to reveal that she is pregnant.

The scene is shockingly tender and emotional since we immediately care about the couple, a pleasant surprise in the horror genre.

As the lovebirds sip champagne at the sophisticated bar, Iris is unsettled by the skyscraper’s lofty height and an unnerving feeling of dread and destruction as revelers hoot and holler on a glass dance floor.

Eventually, the tower collapses following a deadly chain reaction, killing everyone inside.

The Mad Men-style art direction and set design are magnificent and polished, adding worlds of style to the film. The pacing also works with appropriate tension throughout the extended sequence.

The action shifts to 2024, and a violent recurring nightmare plagues Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), revealed to be Iris’s granddaughter. She heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save the Reyes family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them.

The 2024 events are what you’d expect from the Final Destination films, and while decent, they don’t compare to the superior 1969 part.

The most fun is watching the cat-and-mouse setup of the presumed chain of events.

At the Reyes family barbeque, an accidental chunk of broken glass, a mislaid sharp rake, a fiery grill, and a torn trampoline are all possible death objects revealed as the family sips drinks and revels in outdoor activities and chatter.

Or are they merely red herrings?

The genius is forcing the audience to look around their own homes and decipher how many different objects could lead to their deaths.

Santa Juana is excellent at carrying the film, playing a relatable girl next door. Her likability keeps the audience invested in her as she attempts to break the cycle.

Other characters are more stock. The annoying tattoo artist cousin, the absentee mother looking for a second chance, and the uptight female cousin. They are all intended victims that Death will surely pluck.

They all play second fiddle to the bloody deaths, which are the main attraction.

Notably, a recurring character played by Tony Todd returns before the actor’s death, getting a lovely sendoff. His character’s appearance, in both 1969 and 2024, ties in deliciously with the history of the franchise.

Giving fresh breath to a formerly aging franchise, Final Destination Bloodlines (2025) is much better than expected. It adds charm and fulfillment, making it a treat for longtime fans of the past twenty-five years.

2025 Films, Aaron Abrams, Carson MacCormac, Eli Craig, Horror, Katie Douglas, Kevin Durand, Slasher, Will Sasso

Clown in a Cornfield-2025

August 7, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Clown in a Cornfield-2025

Director Eli Craig

Starring Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams

Scott’s Review #1,488

Reviewed August 7, 2025

Grade: B+

Clown in a Cornfield (2025) is a surprisingly satisfying throwback to 1980s slasher horror films but with a modern twist.

The fun vibe creates an entertaining experience that doesn’t take itself too seriously, incorporating comic moments and blending twenty-first-century technology with traditional genre standards.

Additionally, a juicy and surprising same sex romance is revealed in the final stages of the film, when typically the crazed killer whodunit would be the featured main attraction.

The film feels vintage, containing killer clowns, a midwestern cornfield, and eerie townspeople. These one-time clichéd add-ons suddenly feel fresh with a younger audience in mind.

Middle-aged horror buffs can fondly recall 1980s gems like Children of the Corn (1984), which is reminiscent primarily. There is something particularly unsettling about a rural plains area in the middle of nowhere and menacing figures emerging from a dusty cornfield late at night.

As with most creepy small-town horror films, there is a deadly secret harvesting amid the lonely, quiet nights.

In 1991, two fresh-faced teens sneak off into the nearby cornfield and are killed by the local mascot, Frendo the Clown.

Decades later, teenage Quinn Maybrook (Katie Douglas) and her father, Dr. Glenn Maybrook (Aaron Abrams), begrudgingly arrive in the quiet town of Kettle Springs, Missouri, after Quinn’s mother dies, hoping for a fresh start.

Quinn meets fellow students Cole (Carson MacCormac) and Rust (Vincent Muller), and they uncover a mystery surrounding the once-affluent small town that has fallen on hard times after the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down.

The adults warn Quinn to be wary of the high school cool kids, whom she quickly starts to hang out with. But is it the locals and Sheriff Dunne (Will Sasso) that Quinn and her father should be wary of? What is the symbolism of a haunting Baypen factory music box?

The screenwriters wisely, and fantastically, add a mix of humor to many sequences, which both counterbalance the bloodshed and provide laugh-out-loud, genuinely funny moments.

This mostly comes at the expense of two female supporting characters, Janet and an unnamed friend. After a series of pranks to initiate Quinn into their group, one girl assumes that a decapitated head belonging to her boyfriend is fake.

She giggles and juggles it between both her hands before she shrieks in horror at the realization that the head is real. Later, she trudges through the cornfield, complaining that she feels like she’s in a bad 1980s slasher movie.

The best kill comes when a buff, shirtless high school kid bench presses weights in his garage and is decapitated by Frendo. His head bounces into a laundry hamper, and the lid closes shut with exact precision.

I noticed a potent anti-nationalist message as the antagonists are portrayed as small-town, small-minded simpletons meant to represent the United States, the MAGA movement. They blame the teens for the town’s troubles and for ruining its public image.

In satisfying form, the teenagers make fools of the adults, except for Quinn’s father, who is one of the good guys and subsequently runs for mayor to rid the town of the dolts who currently control it.

The sexual preference of Quinn’s male crush is also a breath of fresh air in a genre that typically doesn’t stray too far from mainstream gender roles.

The 2020 novel of the same name, from which the film was adapted, might be superior, but Clown in a Cornfield (2025) is fun. It also proudly has one twist that I did not see coming, which has nothing to do with the deadly clowns.

2025 Films, Action, Allison Williams, Amie Donald, Aristotle Athari, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Gerard Johnstone, Ivanna Sakhno, James Wan, Jenna Davis, Science Fiction, Violet McGraw

M3GAN 2.0-2025

July 6, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

M3GAN 2.0-2025

Director Gerard Johnstone

Starring Allison Williams, Violet McGraw

Scott’s Review #1,484

Reviewed July 6, 2025

Grade: C+

Shifting from science fiction/horror to science fiction/action, M3GAN 2.0 (2025) peppers in enough humor and witty quips from its barbie-like central robotic doll named M3GAN (Amie Donald/Jenna Davis) to keep things entertaining.

I expected more horror elements, which are sorely missing to its detriment. This is peculiar since the slasher elements of the first installment are what made it campy fun.

The story ultimately lost me due to erratic storytelling, preposterous moments, and events that were difficult to follow. Throw in some over-the-top acting, and, at best, M3GAN 2.0 delivers a popcorn summer entertainment classification.

M3GAN (2023) is much superior.

The second chapter follows M3GAN being reluctantly rebuilt by its roboticist and creator, Gemma (Allison Williams), to combat a humanoid military robot named AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), which was built using M3GAN’s technology and is attempting an AI takeover.

But, is M3GAN being manipulated?

Writer and director Gerard Johnstone swaps the original’s horror software for a more action-leaning approach that doesn’t prove to be an upgrade. Fight sequences and a car chase overtake any creepy moments.

However, he wisely keeps and even increases the number of quips delivered by the fiendish robot, and some are laugh-out-loud delightful with saucy expletives thrown around for good measure.

M3GAN primarily engages in banter with Gemma, easily pointing out her shortcomings while remaining a loyal friend and protector to Cady (Violet McGraw).

These are the fun moments, like when M3GAN admits that Gemma is reasonably attractive enough to lure a man to bed. Her sarcastic and slightly robotic voice worked perfectly, so I longed for more of these scenes.

The character of M3GAN is the main attraction. More mature and with a cute bob-like hairstyle, she is older and wiser but just as sinister. She has presumably progressed from a young adult ‘friend’ to a grown woman capable of superior thought process and calculating strategy.

The writing and motivations of the characters are overcomplicated and confusing.

Four different sets of potential villains are thrown into the complex mix. Christian Bradley, a cybersecurity expert whom Gemma meets on her book tour, Alton Appleton, a corrupt tech billionaire, the U.S. Army, and AMELIA.

It’s challenging to keep track of who the good guys are or who the bad guys are, and this includes the allegiance of M3GAN.

An attempt to highlight the dangers of AI to government and technology is a timely and vital message, and is weakly referenced.

Rather than making it a central part of the film, it is merely glossed over without anything to make that message resonate with the audience.

The hokey plot-driven story and kung-fu-like action sequences unfortunately outshine the more satisfying one-liners delivered by M3GAN.

Much of the acting is either alarmingly cartoonish or altogether wooden, mainly on the part of the villains (former) or young actor McGraw, who makes Cady too pouty and brooding.

Williams, most known for Get Out (2017), adequately carries the film while being upstaged by a robot.

M3GAN 2.0 (2025) is a ho-hum affair that may result in the termination of the young franchise unless Johnstone wises up and reverts to more comedy and more horror in a potential M3GAN 3.0 effort.

2025 Films, Cate Blanchett, Drama, Gustaf Skarsgård, Marisa Abela, Michael Fassbender, Naomie Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Regé-Jean Page, Steven Soderbergh, Thriller, Tom Burke

Black Bag-2025

March 30, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Black Bag-2025

Director Steven Soderbergh

Starring Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender

Scott’s Review #1,473

Reviewed March 30, 2025

Grade: B+

Steven Soderbergh offers Black Bag (2025), a taut spy thriller that is very slick and fast-paced. Wasting no time to lag or drag, he gets right down to the action in a quick one hour and thirty-four minute running time.

Stars Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender play British intelligence officers and husband and wife, George and Kathryn. His superior, Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgård), gives George one week to investigate the leak of a top-secret software program code-named Severus.

One of the five suspects is Kathryn.

Viewers familiar with Soderbergh’s films will recognize the familiarity of the tense electronic musical score by David Holmes, a frequent collaborator of Soderbergh. He scored the Oceans trilogy (2001-2007), which Black Bag resembles.

Those films, hits at the time, now feel less impactful, but Black Bag takes a similar style and envelops a modern, sophisticated London backdrop.

The immediate draw is Fassbender and Blanchett, who play exceptionally well opposite each other. Both stars light up the screen electrically, offering cat-and-mouse scenes that cackle with dry wit and sensuality.

George can always sense untruths and despises liars. As much as he loves Kathryn, he doubts her when he finds a movie ticket receipt in the trash for a film she claims never to have seen. But is she being set up?

The supporting characters are impressive, with Marisa Abela and Tom Burke as sparring partners and Clarissa and Freddie getting the meatier roles.

The best sequence is the riveting dinner sequence when George invites the four other suspects, all colleagues, to dinner. When he drugs their food to lower their inhibitions, he has them play a warped game of ‘Resolutions’ in which they make a resolution for the person to their right.

Since the other couples are each dating, this leads to revelations, squabbles, and a jealous stabbing.

Even in mainstream pictures, Soderbergh loves incorporating corporate work sequences and independent cinema/arthouse qualities. Propelled by the musical score, sometimes frenetic, there is a thrilling vibe even in quiet scenes.

He also loves closeup shots, which are especially important for Fassbender, Blanchett, and the dinner guests.

Nearly putting style over substance, the story, written by David Koepp, is complicated to follow. We assume that one of the dinner guests or Kathyrn’s boss, Arthur (Pierce Brosnan), is the rat, serving up a film whodunit.

Kathryn has access to a Zurich bank account containing ₤7 million in misdirected and unexplained funds, and there is something to do with a Russian operative who Kathryn flies to Zurich to meet.

The rest of the plot is gray, and after the film, I needed to read a synopsis to gain some understanding.

Small wonders that may have had little to do with the story impressed me. A simple scene in a crowded movie theater where Kathryn and George munch popcorn and flinch at scary scenes enhances the importance and joy one gets from watching a film in the movie theater.

The couple’s duplex London loft is pure magic to look at. As George prepares simmering food and quality wine in the vast kitchen with modern trimmings, their upstairs bedroom is equally enthralling with cosmopolitan furniture colors and just the right polish.

The couple is obviously worldly.

Black Bag (2025) is an entertaining film. Do not struggle to follow every nuance or story point, or you will be frustrated. Instead, sit back and enjoy the experience of a spy thriller with incredible music, sets, and stars.

2025 Films, Adam Scott, Camp, Christian Convery, Colin O'Brien, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Elijah Wood, Horror, Horror-Camp, Horror-Comedy, James Wan, Oz Perkins, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy, Stephen King, Tatiana Maslany, Theo James

The Monkey-2025

March 14, 2025 scottmet99 Leave a comment

The Monkey-2025

Director Oz Perkins

Starring Theo James, Christian Convery

Scott’s Review #1,471

Reviewed March 14, 2025

Grade: B

The Monkey (2025) is a macabre horror/comedy film based on a 1980 Stephen King short story.

The film is directed by Oz Perkins, son of legendary actor Anthony Perkins, forever famous for portraying Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).

He also wrote the screenplay proving that horror runs in his Hollywood royalty tinged blood.

Partnering with James Wan, who co-created the lethal Saw (2004-present) franchise, which The Monkey mostly resembles, adds experience and credibility to the project.

Deadly set pieces and dangling machinery just waiting to slice and dice willing victims to bits make the film a fun experience.

When twin brothers (Christian Convery/Theo James) find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart, leaving them to live with their kooky aunt and uncle and ultimately estranged.

Twenty-five years later, after lying dormant, the devious monkey begins a new killing spree, forcing the siblings to reunite and confront the cursed toy.

For horror fans, the best part of The Monkey is the gruesome death scenes. Wan, well versed in eye gouging, decapitations, and torn limbs, must have inspired Perkins during the final cut.

Wonderfully wicked kills include a gorgeous bikini-clad female pool goer blown to bits, a busload of cheery cheerleaders decapitated, a shop owner disemboweled with a harpoon gun, a bowling ball decapitating another victim, and an unlikable victim being killed by a swarm of wasps.

The uproarious deaths are applaud-worthy because most of the victims are annoying or unsympathetic in some way. The audience delights in witnessing their endings in such gory fashion.

As the adult Hal/Bill Shelburn, Theo James carries the film as the charismatic, bookworm, Hal and the egotistical Bill. James, ridiculously handsome, looks even more adorable in glasses and shy awkwardness.

Hal attempts to reconnect with his son, Petey (Colin O’Brien), with whom he only spends one week per year. Rather than being an absent father, he strives to protect him from the terrible monkey.

Many supporting characters are played over the top and wacky, making the film a goofy horror/comedy. Elijah Wood appears as Ted Hammerman, Hal’s ex-wife’s new husband, while Adam Scott plays Hal’s and Bill’s absent father, with whom the monkey originated after a trip abroad.

As gory delicious as the blood and guts are, the story isn’t much of a highlight. The brother Bill is written as so much of an asshole that one wonders why Hal is so tolerant towards him.

The ending is predictable, and there is not much closure with the monkey. A half-assed explanation of whomever turns the key in the monkey’s back is immune from being killed or some such explanation didn’t wow me.

The film could be a Twilight Zone or horror series episode over a full-length production, running out of gas towards the end.

Oz Perkins is a rising director who creates a cruelly delightful film that feels like an independent production. Choosing to propel viewers into a gore fest over a scary film, The Monkey (2025) is a modest success.

Welcome to my blog!1,521 reviews posted so far! I'm Scott Segrell and I reside in Stamford, CT. My site features hundreds of film reviews I have written since I launched the site in 2014. I hope you enjoy reading my latest reviews or searching for your own favorites to see if we agree. Please see my featured films of the month, and don't forget to utilize the tags and category links.