March Movies Part 2: Flow & Black Bag

I got sidetracked by TV and haven't watched many movies this month, but here are two good recommendations to tide you over till the end of the month. Whether you're looking for Oscar-winning animation or a slick and stylish spy thriller, there's something here for everyone.

Flow: This is the Oscar-winning animated movie from Latvia, the first movie from that country to win an Oscar. Even better, it was made using completely free open source software for a ridiculously low budget, and still managed to beat out top animation studios like Pixar and DreamWorks. Isn't that backstory enough to make you a fan?

Directed by Gints Zilbadolis, who also co-wrote the script with Matiss Kaza, this movie follows a little cat who is trying to make its way through a seemingly post-apocalyptic world where a flood keeps threatening the land. In a desperate attempt to escape the rising sea level, the cat manages to hop aboard a sailboat that has been boarded by a capybara. Along the way, they pick up a secretary bird and a lemur. There are also some very dumb dogs that show up and cause some complications.

This movie might be Latvian, but it has entirely no dialogue, just the universal language of these animals trying to work together in their very unique ways to survive the flood, get some food, and get on with their lives. The animation can feel like it was done for free at times, but mostly it feels quite astonishing and clever, perfectly capturing how these animals move and act, particularly the differences between cats and dogs. It beautifully depicts the natural world and is a simple story, magically told.

Black Bag: There's nothing simple about this story. Written by David Koepp and directed by Steven Soderbergh, this is a movie about a married spy couple, George and Kathryn (played by the impeccably cool combination of Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett), who work for MI6 in London. George is tasked with conducting an internal investigation when a top-secret software program goes missing and MI6 suspects they have a mole. There are five suspects, one of whom is...Kathryn. So, George invites the other four to dinner and has the world's most awkward dinner party. Following which, more things start to unravel. 

I won't get into any more plot because this movie is twisty and complex and a sheer delight. Even if you don't care about the story, you'll just be captivated at how elegantly Cate Blanchett wears her coat. Honestly, the woman prowls around a room more elegantly than a leopard. The cast is amazing, and there are many moments in this film that are quite funny, right in the middle of everything being insanely tense. You will be on the edge of your seat for much of this film, and you'll have a grand ol' time. And because it's directed by Soderbergh, the cinematography and editing are crisp and precise. I particularly enjoyed the fact that any light in this film has a bit of a halo around it, making everything seems slightly more ethereal and fantastical. You will not know who to trust in this movie until the very end, and with a tight runtime of 94 minutes, it's an absolutely perfect piece of cinematic entertainment.

March Binges Part 2: Deli Boys, The Pitt, Apple Cider Vinegar, The Residence

I binged way more shows than I thought I would this month so here are some more recommendations coming your way if you feel the need to get solidly acquainted with your couch cushions!

Deli Boys: Created by Abdullah Saeed, this show is a thoroughly delightful binge. Asif Ali and Saagar Shaikh star as Mir and Raj, two brothers in Philadelphia who discover in the wake of their father's death that he was actually a criminal. And they must now take over his drug empire with the help of his right-hand woman, Lucky (the indomitably great Poorna Jagannathan), and annoyed CFO, Ahmad (Brian Geroge). These two spoiled Pakistani-American men must quickly figure out how they are going to get back to making this business a profitable enterprise that can help them sustain the lavish lifestyle to which they have become accustomed, all while dodging a persistent FBI agent and negotiating with hardened criminals who would only be too happy to see them permanently put out of business.

It's a wild and wacky premise, and every episode ends on an amazing cliffhanger that makes this impossible not to binge. Trust me on this - my ordinarily "I can only watch one episode at a time!" husband was the one clamoring for us to hit Play Next Episode every day until we polished off the ten episodes that make up the first season of this show. It is funny, smart, full of desi jokes, a little bit bloody, and genuinely exciting and intriguing. Bring on the second season ASAP, but until then, just rewatch this first season on a loop. 

The Pitt: There are still a few episodes left to air to finish out the 15-episode first season, but just start bingeing already, OK? This is one of the best shows airing on TV right now, and unless you are already a doctor who cannot bear to watch a medical show, your eyeballs should be glued to Max as you soak in this ambitious and remarkable televisual feat. Created by R. Scott Gemmill, the show follows one shift in the Emergency Room of the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. Each episode features one hour in this most nightmarish of shifts and you're following the various doctors, nurses, students, social workers, and other support staff that keep this place running. As well as a varied mix of patients who are presenting with a number of complaints, some of which might be resolved within an hour, and others of which you'll be tracking over several episodes until they finally leave the ER (for either good or bad reasons). 

Noah Wyle stars as Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, the senior attending who has to preside over this motley crew and ensure they do no harm while working under horrendous administrative pressures. The man is brilliant, but he is also exceedingly human, and he is still reeling from the PTSD of working in the ER during the COVID pandemic. This day, in particular, is a hard one for him, and as the day progresses, things just keep getting worse. A breakdown is imminent, but oh man, it's not clear who is going to snap first, because every single character on this show is going through some gnarly shit. Also, this is the day that the new medical students and interns have rotated into this department, so we quickly get to see who will survive this trial by fire, and who is going to suffer (one of the students faints during a gruesome procedure, and let's just say that I felt very seen.) 

Every actor on this show is doing phenomenal work, and the writers are simply geniuses, effortlessly doling out backstory as they simultaneously cover every medical complication known to man. Keep an eye on anyone you think might be a background actor - someone might seem like they're just an extra in the waiting room on Episode 1, but then they get admitted in Episode 5 and get to have a whole story arc of their own. The production design is incredible, and you will get to see hyper-realistic depictions of everything that goes on in a trauma center. This show is certainly not for the faint of heart, but if you can stomach all those bodily fluids, you are in for an emotional and thrilling ride.

Apple Cider Vinegar: From realistic medicine, we go to absolute quackery. Created by Samatha Strauss, who adapted this from the book, The Woman Who Fooled the World, by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, this miniseries is the true story of Australian influencer, Belle Gibson (played with an amazing accent by the always reliable Kaitlyn Dever). Belle was an entrepreneur and wellness guru, who faked having brain cancer in order to amass a social media following and tout her wellness recipes via an app and cookbook. Over the course of six episodes, we see how this woman got to this point, and the various institutions and people that enabled her to get away with it. 

In parallel, we also get the story of Milla Blake (a fictional character, though based on a real woman, played by Alycia Debnam-Carey), a young woman who truly does have a rare cancer in her arm, but chooses to pursue alternative medicine instead of listening to her doctors who say amputation or an experimental treatment might be her only options. She also becomes an inspirational figure in the wellness industry, with a popular blog touting her alternative medicine approach that consists of juicing and coffee enemas. All of which, of course, is dangerous and leads many people astray who need proper medical attention. 

The series is a little uneven and at times it can feel like this didn't need to be extended out into six hour-long episodes. But at its core, it's a fascinating and remarkable look at the very real dangers that these so-called wellness experts pose, particularly during a time when our society is fond of attacking and questioning scientists and medical professionals more than ever. Medical misinformation can have truly devastating consequences, and following the trajectory of these two very different but oddly similar women offers up a compelling vision of why we must always remain vigilant.

The Residence: Ready for a complete pivot? Binge all eight episodes of this murder mystery instead! Created by Paul William Davies, Uzo Aduba stars as Detective Cordelia Cupp, an avid birder who also happens to be one of the best detectives in the world, who is called in to investigate what happened when the Chief Usher of the White House (played by none other than Giancarlo Esposito) is found dead in the game room. Who could have done it?!

Turns out, a lot of people could have done it. The White House was hosting a state dinner that night, so a bunch of Australians are present (including some famous ones!), but more importantly, the White House employs a lot of staff members, a number of whom had intricate relationships with the Chief Usher and various motives and agendas that may or may not have resulted in his murder. If that wasn't enough, the President's own family members and friends are behaving awfully suspiciously as well. As Cordelia interviews all these people and runs around the White House looking for clues, she finds a very tangled web.

This show definitely suffers from Netflix bloat, constantly re-hashing the plot and re-summarizing what we have learned so far instead of just getting on with it. It could have been a lean six episodes, but instead is a very long eight episodes, that will occasionally wear on you. But the actors are charming, and the mystery itself is quite elegant when you finally unravel it all. This is one of those shows that might have been better as a novel than a series, but with Shonda Rhimes as an executive producer, you are least guaranteed sumptuous production design and a visual spectacle to keep you engaged in the duller moments. It's like watching a Poirot novel come to life, so if that's your jam, have at it.

March Movies Part 1: Mickey 17 & The Monkey

Headed to the theater? Well, I've already been and here are some thoughts on what's out right now.

Mickey 17: Written and directed by Bong Joon Ho, this is the story of what happens when an Expendable named Mickey becomes a Multiple. OK, hold on, I'll have to explain some more, won't I? This movie is set in the future where various groups of humans are striving to colonize other planets. Mickey (Robert Pattinson) is a man who is fleeing all his debt collectors on Earth, so he agrees to sign up for a mission to the planet Niflheim as an Expendable. Humans have developed the technology to print out clones that can contain the memories of the original, so as an Expendable, Mickey is basically a human lab rat who tests out various hostile environments or substances to see how a human would die, and then he gets re-printed out the next day as a new version of himself who still remembers everything that happened to him. As you can imagine, there are many dubious ethical and moral implications to this, and all of that comes to a head when his overlords accidentally print out the 18th version of him, assuming that Mickey 17 died. Only, of course, Mickey 17 is still alive, and now he and Mickey 18 must figure out how they both co-exist as Multiples. 

Everything that I've explained is contained in the 2-minute trailer for this movie, which I watched a dozen times while at the movies last year. In the movie, however, all of that backstory takes up almost the entire first half, which is why I accidentally fell asleep for a lot of it. Oops. So, I'm here to tell you that this movie wasn't quite my cup of tea. It's an intriguing premise, but the execution fell flat for me. Pattinson is doing a good job, but the comic tone of the film was often histrionic and too over-the-top for me. Particularly when we get to Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collete as the villains of the piece who are just being way too zany for my liking. I don't think this movie quite nailed its tone, and while it had a solid philosophical quandary at its center, it resolved that quandary in a way that felt a bit too pat and Hollywood. I'm sure there are a lot of people who might get a lot out of this movie. But I was not one of them.

The Monkey: Written and directed by Osgood Perkins, this movie is a very funny horror movie about a cursed toy monkey and the twin boys who unfortunately become enmeshed in its bloody vendetta. Theo James plays identical twin brothers Hal and Bill (Christian Convery plays them as young boys), who have a rather difficult relationship, with Bill constantly bullying Hal. But then the brothers find a creepy monkey toy in their closet, and every time they turn the key in its back, some random person in the vicinity dies a gruesome death. They try to get rid of the monkey after it kills someone very important to them, but then we flash forward to 25 years later where Hal is now a loner who is too terrified of having close relationships lest the Monkey rear its ugly head. Which it does.

This movie is only 98 minutes long, so while it doesn't have much plot, you'll be perfectly entertained for the entire run time. It's based on a short story by Stephen King, and you can tell there isn't much story there to stretch out, but as we are subject to increasingly zany and bloody deaths, you can't help but chuckle and settle in for the ride. It's very silly, but very entertaining, and sometimes that's all you want for a quick diversion at the movies. 

March Binges Part 1: The Agency, Paradise, Running Point

Now that the Oscars are over, do you need recommendations of some new shows to binge? Well don't fret, I've got you covered!

The Agency: Created by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, the cast of this show is a veritable who's who of Hollywood, featuring folks like Michael Fassbender, Jodie Tuner-Smith, Jeffrey Wright, and Richard Gere. With the occasional cameo from other famous folk. Fassbender stars as Brandon Colby (though he usually is only referred to by his CIA code name of Martian). He was deep undercover in Africa for six years, but when he is suddenly recalled back to London Station, he has to abandon the woman he has fallen in love with, Dr. Samia Zahir (Turner-Smith). He becomes a senior case officer, dealing with various shenanigans involving a missing agent in Belarus and a new field officer who could be deployed to Iran. But when Samia shows up in London, Martian is desperate to somehow win this woman back, under the guise of his old cover. As you can imagine, trying to juggle his undercover love life with all of his important case work proves to be a challenging task. Particularly as Samia starts to get mixed up in something the CIA might want some intel on.

This show is twisty and complex and will always keep you on your toes. There are multiple threads and characters that don't always seem to be interrelated, and by the end of the ten episodes, you do get the sense that maybe what you've watched is a very long prologue to set up a more satisfying Season 2 climax. But it's well worth a watch if spy thrillers are your thing, and this cast is firing on all cylinders. John Magaro offers up a lot of comic relief as a junior case officer who always seems to be in over his head, while Jeffrey Wright and Richard Gere are fascinating as Martian's bosses who have to maneuver through all the bureaucracy of managing the CIA. Fassbender's accent is definitely questionable (I had to remind someone multiple times that he was meant to be American in this show), but overall, this is quite an indulgent, high-budget TV treat if you're looking forward to a long, riveting binge. 

Paradise: For a truly riveting binge, however, might I introduce you to Paradise? Created by Dan Fogelman, this show stars Sterling K. Brown as Xavier Collins, the lead Secret Service agent on the President's detail. The President is Cal Bradford (James Marsden), and spoiler alert, he dies in the very first episode. What follows is a murder mystery, with plenty of flashbacks so we get to spend more time with Marsden. But, if that's not enough, there's a whole other twist to this show that is revealed at the very end of Episode 1. I absolutely refuse to spoil that, so you're going to have to watch to find out what the more mind-blowing aspect of this show is that makes every subsequent episode of its eight-episode run so fun to watch.

There are some great performances from Julianne Nicholson, Krys Marshall, and Sarah Shahi, but I won't get into any details about who they're playing as you need all of that to unfurl over time. Suffice to say, this show has a thoroughly engaging and intriguing premise that never gets stale, and with Sterling K. Brown at the helm, how could you possibly take your eyes off the screen? The production design is also spectacular, for reasons that will become apparent. This is a high-concept and highly entertaining show that I eagerly watched week to week, but now you can gobble up the first season in one fell swoop and wait with me desperately for the second.

Running Point: Speaking of gobbling up a season in one fell swoop, I devoured the ten episodes of this show over two days and it was utterly delicious. Created by Elaine Ko, Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz, and David Stassen, this show stars Kate Hudson as Isla Gordon, a woman who unexpectedly becomes the CEO of the professional basketball team her family owns, the LA Waves, when her older brother (played by Justin Theroux!) has to step down to go to rehab. She has her other brothers Sandy and Ness (Drew Tarver and Scott MacArthur) beside her as the CFO and general manager, respectively, as well as her best friend and fiercely competent chief of staff, Ali Lee (Brenda Song). And she's engaged to a lovely man, played by Max Greenfield! I mean, the number of charming actors in this show just keeps growing and growing. If that's not enough, Chet Hanks plays one of the obnoxious basketball players on the team, and it is by far the most exquisite casting I could have ever imagined for that singular man.

This show is absolutely chock-full of plot and every single episode ends with an insane cliffhanger that is designed to have you hitting Play Next Episode on repeat. Isla's work life is an endless barrage, but there's also plenty of relationship drama to go around for everybody, and it's impossible to get bored for a second while you watch this engaging cast of characters play off of each other in increasingly wild and wonderful ways. It's like a big bag of candy that has something for everyone, and the impeccable costumes and production design certainly make it easy on the eyes as well. This is a gem of a comedy; the only thing wrong with it is that it's all over too soon and we now have to wait for Season 2. Alas.

And the 2025 Oscar Goes To...

Another year, another Oscars. With less diversity, but still some excellent storytelling. We can't have it all, folks. Let's dive into it and see what we got this year!

Best Picture: We've got another wide-ranging set of movies, covering a slew of genres, making it an even more ridiculous exercise to say that one of these was "Best" when they are all so audaciously different from each other. But my pick is The Brutalist. This movie was unfathomably astonishing, and I know that it's fashionable for people who haven't seen it to quibble about its three-and-a-half-hour runtime, but just give it a shot. This movie is sublime, earns that runtime, and absolutely deserves all the kudos it is receiving. Next up, I would say that Anora and Conclave are tied for my affections. These movies feature crackling performances and propulsive plots that kept me on the edge of my seat up until the very end. And then we have Nickel Boys, I'm Still Here, and The Substance, three films that remind us of why we need more gender and racial diversity in film, both in front of and behind the camera. These are great films, tackling very different subjects, but approaching them from a unique, often mind-bending perspective, and wholly immersing the audience in the characters. Then we get to the two musicals, Wicked and A Complete Unknown. Wicked is the better movie, a complete package featuring excellent music, production design, and performances, while A Complete Unknown is a thin biopic that shines in terms of the performances from Timothee Chalamet and Monica Barbaro. And yes, there is a third musical, the chaotic Emilia Perez, but the less said about that the better. That movie has had a true fall from grace over the course of its Oscar campaign and is destined to become a laughable footnote in cinematic history. And then, we have Dune: Part Two as our final nominee. Listen, I don't know why this movie is nominated for Best Picture - it was a spectacle, sure, but this is clearly just a plea to get more audience viewership for the Oscars by nominating some big box office films. Let's move along.

Best Director: Coralie Fargeat has nabbed the one nomination for a woman in this category, for her truly visionary work in The Substance. While I thought the movie was spectacular and she is clearly a force to be reckoned with, I loved The Brutalist too much and am rooting for Brady Corbet to win this award instead. Fresh off a DGA win, however, Sean Baker might end up as the winner for Anora; he has rapidly become one of my favorite directors, so I wouldn't be mad about this win, but oh, poor Brady Corbet. And...no to James Mangold for A Complete Unknown or Jacques Audiard for Emilia Perez. Mangold is a journeyman director who put in serviceable work, but this is a pretty basic movie, while Audiard is an example of why we need someone other than a white man behind the camera when telling a movie about Mexican folks. RaMell Ross should have been nominated here instead, for his truly remarkable work on Nickel Boys, but alas. We'll have to give him his Oscar some other year.

Best Actress: Well, we know Karla Sofia Gascon will not be winning for Emilia Perez, so let's quickly dispense with that. While Cynthia Erivo put in phenomenal work in Wicked, she is going to have to just be happy to be nominated this year. Which leaves us with Mikey Madison for Anora, Demi Moore for The Substance, and Fernanda Torres for I'm Still Here. I loved all three of these performances, but I will have to personally root for Demi Moore just because it would be a fitting tribute to her long "popcorn movie" career. Madison has plenty of time to earn another nomination, but Torres is a worthy opponent for Moore who may never have a second chance at this, so I won't begrudge her if she nabs the trophy instead. 

Best Actor: This is an interesting category. I love Colman Domingo and wish he would win an Oscar already, but Sing Sing didn't move me as much as it did other people, and he does not seem to have much of a shot of getting up on that stage this year. Timothee Chalamet was fantastic in A Complete Unknown and put in so much work that I honestly would enjoy seeing him walk away with a statue. Adrien Brody was superb in The Brutalist, and while I loved his performance, the man already has an Oscar so why can't he share the wealth? Interestingly, Brody was the youngest man to win Best Actor in 2003 for The Pianist but if Chalamet wins, he will snatch that record from Brody. Doesn't that feel fitting? Of course, he also has stiff competition from Ralph Fiennes for Conclave and Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice. I was surprised to discover Fiennes has never won an Oscar before, but this will still not be his year. Stan has been putting in remarkable work this year, but he will probably have to wait his turn like everyone else.

Best Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldana is the shoo-in here for Emilia Perez. She delivers a powerhouse performance that is by no means "Supporting," but I guess we'll play this game. I was truly delighted to see Monica Barbaro's nomination here for A Complete Unknown, because I was worried people were giving Chalamet all the kudos for his work as Bob Dylan and neglecting to acknowledge her work as Joan Baez. She won't be winning this year, but hopefully she will now have many future chances to win an award. Ariana Grande was wonderful in Wicked, but this is not her year - maybe she'll have a shot next year with the sequel! Felicity Jones has a meaty role in The Brutalist, but she can't quite eclipse her competitors in this category. And Isabella Rossellini is barely even in Conclave - this is a truly Judi Dench-esque Supporting performance, and she will not be winning for it.

Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin is going to walk away with this one for his incredible work on A Real Pain, and it is rightfully deserved, even though, this is very much a Best Actor performance and not "Supporting" in any way. I was personally delighted to see Yura Borisov nominated for his work in Anora where he does more acting with his soulful eyes than anyone else and I was a complete sucker for it. Jeremy Strong and Guy Pearce deliver strong performances as hateful, powerful men in The Apprentice and The Brutalist, respectively, but an award seems unlikely. And while Edward Norton is wonderful as Pete Seeger in A Complete Unknown, he simply does not have a shot this year. Better luck next year, gentlemen.

Best Original Screenplay: Anora just won the WGA award, so that dizzyingly entertaining and endearing script is likely the frontrunner. But the first time I saw The Brutalist, I genuinely thought it was a true story - doesn't that deserve something? And September 5, which is not nominated for anything else, has a taut and brilliant script that I dearly loved. And then A Real Pain and The Substance are equally brilliant and creative and wild in their own ways. My God. This is a thoroughly stacked category where I'm hoping for a five-way tie - can we make that happen please? 

Best Adapted Screenplay: Nickel Boys won the WGA award, and I'm certainly rooting for them to win the trophy here. No to Emilia Perez (boooo!). I loved Conclave, so it's probably my runner-up in this category. Sing Sing would be a very deserving winner, but I don't think it has a shot, while A Complete Unknown was just another humdrum biopic and doesn't need to be winning here. 

That's all for the major categories. There has been a lot of back-and-forth in the precursor award shows and it's not clear who the real frontrunner is - Anora has been staging a massive comeback, and The Brutalist seems to be increasingly sidelined, but I do hope they can each divvy up a slew of awards as they were two of my favorite films this year. That being said, I loved many of these movies and performances, so this is a year when I'll truly just be happy with whoever wins. Except Emilia Perez. Boof.

February Movies Part 3: Nickel Boys, The Apprentice, I'm Still Here

The Oscars are less than a week away so as you can imagine, I have been desperately scrambling to finish watching the last few nominated movies I haven't yet seen. And now, here are my reviews for your viewing pleasure.

Nickel Boys: Directed by RaMell Ross who also wrote the screenplay with Joslyn Barnes, based on Colson's Whitehead's 2019 novel, this is the deeply dark and distressing tale of two teenage boys at Nickel Academy in the 1960s. Nickel is a racially segregated reform school, where the Black boys are inevitably treated harshly and cruelly and have absolutely no recourse. They are told that they could get out for good behavior, but of course, that is simply a lie, as the school benefits too much from hiring these boys out as cheap labor while not even bothering to feed or educate them properly. We begin our story with Elwood (Ethan Cole Sharp), a young man who ends up in Nickel completely by accident through a gross miscarriage of justice. He meets Turner (Brandon Wilson), another boy who has been stuck at Nickel for years after he grew up in a terrible home. The two of them form a bond, with Turner trying to teach Elwood how to fly under the radar, while Elwood, a bright kid who took part in Civil Rights protests, still can't quite fathom how this place could be allowed to exist.

Of course, the thing everyone is talking about in this movie is the way that it is shot. Told from a first-person perspective, the camera acts as the eyes of the different characters and so you are mostly looking out at the world as Elwood or Turner sees it. It's a powerful way to literally put the audience in these characters' shoes and also feels like absolute magic. There were multiple shots where I would go, "I don't understand how they shot that." That does mean that the camera work can be shaky at times though, so you might get a little unsettled and queasy if you're prone to motion sickness. Even if you're not so afflicted, the horrific story will make you unsettled all the same. While Nickel Academy may be fictional, it is based on the very real Dozier School in Florida, that was only shut down in 2011. So please do give this movie your attention. It is beautifully shot, well-acted, and a powerful reminder of this country's sordid history.

The Apprentice: Directed by Ali Abbasi and written by Gabriel Sherman, this is the story of Donald Trump's rise to power in the 70s and 80s after he was taken under the wing of the powerful and disreputable lawyer, Roy Cohn. Was I dreading having to watch this movie? Of course. But once I steeled myself to do it, I discovered it was a genuinely good film. And can now understand why Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong have been nominated for their performances as Trump and Cohn respectively. Stan, especially, is wondrous at portraying this heinous man that dominates our collective consciousness. He somehow captures all those mannerisms and tics and ways of speaking that are so familiar, without descending into all-out parody or a too-uncanny impression. He has nailed the essence of Trump but then lets us get on with the story of how this venal man came to be, under the tutelage of the equally venal Cohn.

Obviously, your mileage may vary. Far be it for me to recommend a Trump movie to anyone, because who the hell wants to give the guy more airtime? But this is a well-made film (with a great soundtrack to boot) that provides some insights into how this man has always operated and why he is currently obliterating our government. Maria Bakalova also offers up a stand-out performance as Ivana Trump, with one particularly heartbreaking scene that should fill everyone who voted for this man with shame. But they won't care, so alas. Watch it if you're an Oscar completist but spare yourself if the news already has you down. It's a good movie, but it's not worth that much trauma.

I'm Still Here: Directed by Walter Salles and written by Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega, based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva's 2015 memoir, this is the true story of Eunice Paiva (played by the incandescent Fernanda Torres), a woman who is a national hero in Brazil, but who I had never heard of until watching this film. This film will quickly explain to you why she became such a hero, even if it is a rather harrowing tale. It all begins in 1970, where Eunice and her family live in Rio de Janeiro and enjoy a rather idyllic life right by the beach. She and her husband, Rubens (Selton Mello), are very much in love and have five children, who all seem to be having a lovely time. However, Brazil is under a military dictatorship, and one night, some men claiming to be the police take Rubens away for questioning. The next day, Eunice and her daughter are taken in for questioning as well, and no answers are forthcoming as to what the army thinks Rubens has done.

The movie is mostly concerned with these events in 1970, but we do then get some time jumps that explain what happened to Eunice and her family in later years. If I have one quibble about this film, it's that it felt like a superhero origin story, more concerned with how this woman acted as a wife and mother, rather than giving us the story of what she did with her life that made her a truly celebrated national treasure. This movie is so well-told and features immaculate performances from every cast member, but now I am desperate for a sequel. This is a woman who really LIVED, and one movie is not enough to contain her greatness. If, like me, you are woefully behind in your knowledge of South American history and feminist icons (or have simply never watched a Brazilian movie), watch this movie posthaste. It is a remarkable reminder of all of the many ways that ordinary people can fight back against injustice and continue to smile.

February Movies Part 2: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Love Hurts, Captain America: Brave New World, You're Cordially Invited

February isn't just about catching up on Oscar movies. It's also about watching the random dregs of cinema that studios throw into theaters and on streaming. Wade on into those murky waters - you may find some gold!

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy: It should come as no surprise to everyone that I absolutely love the Bridget Jones novels, newspaper columns, and movies. I love Colin Firth, I love Pride & Prejudice, it is all one big meta dream for a Jane Austen fan. But of course, when Helen Fielding decided to kill off Mark Darcy in the third novel, I was thoroughly devastated. And this is the movie adaptation of that tale. So naturally, it is bittersweet, but it does feature a ghostly Firth as well as a still alive Hugh Grant as a slightly less roguish Daniel Cleaver, who is no longer ruining Bridget's life but is a "helpful" babysitter of sorts as she tries to move on with her life. And Renee Zellweger is charming as ever while delivering Bridget's endless stream-of-consciousness monologues. There are plenty of reappearances from original supporting cast members, but we also get the wonderful Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mr. Wallaker, Bridget's son's science teacher, as well as Leo Woodall as the ridiculously named Roxster, a hot young thing that Bridget is cougaring up with after some Tinder texting. There should be no surprises in terms of how things end up, but like all great romcoms, the joy is in the journey, not the destination. While I missed Mark Darcy, this movie is still a fun nostalgic romp and a reminder of how you can never help rooting for Bridget. It's also very melancholic, and I did find myself getting weepy for our darling heroine at times. But do not worry - everything works out exactly as you want it to, in breathtakingly swoony fashion. It's an absolutely perfect post-Valentine's treat.

Love Hurts: I was excited to see Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose team up in an action romance - that's some fantasy casting right there. This is a movie about what happens when a realtor named Marvin (Quan) is confronted by his dark past that he thought he had left behind, as well as by Rose (DeBose), the woman that he thought he would never see again. You'll get all the back story you need from the trailer, so suffice to say, Marvin used to work for some bad people and did bad things, he got out of the game but is now being dragged back into it, and will team up with his lady love, Rose to win the day. Along the way there is a LOT of ultra-violent fighting, so don't go into this if you don't like watching people get stabbed and killed in various painful ways. Quan used to be a stunt coordinator, so the man is incredible to watch in these fight scenes, but I prefer my cinematic fights to be bloodless, thank you very much. It's hard to appreciate the artistry of stunt choreography when a man has been stabbed in the eyeball. So, check it out if action movies without much plot are your thing, but don't go into this thinking you're going to get a lot else. 

Captain America: Brave New World: This movie is...fine? Directed by Julius Onah and written by a bunch of dudes (you will definitely get the sense that this script was written by committee), this is yet another installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where we get to see Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson officially swan around as Captain America and save the world. We even have Harrison Ford as the American President who has a testy relationship with Cap but recognizes the need to work together. There is the usual slew of Marvel jimjams, all of which sailed right over my head, especially since I had never watched the 2008 Hulk movie with Edward Norton that this movie apparently was referencing a lot. Mackie and Danny Ramirez as Cap's sidekick, Joaquin Torres, aka the new Falcon, are charming as ever and had great chemistry, and Carl Lumbly continues to be great as Isaiah Bradley, the Black super soldier who was experimented on for thirty years, then finally given his due in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and now is due to be treated horribly again in this film. Like with any Marvel movie these days, you can go into it to be mildly entertained, but if you're expecting to have a transcendental experience, think again. Even Harrison Ford couldn't save this one. 

You're Cordially Invited: Written and directed by Nicholas Stoller, this movies stars Will Ferrell and Resse Witherspoon as Jim and Margot, two people who have accidentally double-booked the same small inn on a remote island for the wedding of a loved one. In Margot's case, her sister Neve (Meredith Hagner) is getting married, while Jim is there for his daughter Jenni's (Geraldine Viswanathan) wedding. As you can imagine, many shenanigans ensue between the two wedding parties after they decide to share the space for the weekend and end up sabotaging each other in a myriad of ways. And of course, weddings bring out a lot of complicated family dynamics, with Margot struggling to reconcile with her difficult family that she feels very out-of-touch with, while Jim struggles to truly let his beloved daughter go after years of raising her as a widower. There are certainly over-the-top moments, and this is by no means a subtle comedy, but it does have a tremendous amount of heart and a decent understanding of how humans behave in high-pressure familial situations. I found it be to a thoroughly mindless and entertaining way to while away an afternoon so can happily recommend it as a decent distraction this weekend.

February Movies Part 1: Queer, Companion, Paddington in Peru, Love Me

Valentine's Day is almost upon us (or the far superior Galentine's Day if you celebrate), so I have been watching a lot of love-themed movies this month. I've got some real variety of genres and content for you in this post, so dive in if you're interested in queer love, family love, futuristic love, or...horrific love.

Queer: Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes, based on the novel by William S. Burroughs, this is a story about William Lee (Danial Craig), an American expat living in Mexico City in 1950, who is obsessed with a man named Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). We follow Lee's pursuit of this man and their travels to South America in search of what ends up being an ayahuasca trip and a whole lot of vibes. I'll be honest, this is absolutely not my kind of movie. Yes, it's absolutely gorgeous to look at, and every frame has some breathtaking shot and perspective. And damn does Daniel Craig look great in a fedora and linen suit. The acting is all on point here (my husband particularly enjoyed Jason Schwartzman offering up some light comic relief as Lee's friend, Joe). But ultimately, I found myself too perplexed and frustrated by this film. It started off strong but went off the rails. If you're the kind of person who wants to indulge in intense, melancholic, trippy vibes, this is the perfect movie for you. But if you want a bit more plot and structure, give this one a miss.

Companion: As is well established on this blog, I'm a sucker for comic horror. And this movie did not disappoint. Written and directed by Drew Hancock, this is the story of what happens when Iris and Josh (Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid) go up to a remote lakehouse with some friends for the weekend. The house is owned by Sergey (Rupert Friend), a cartoonish Russian millionaire who is dating Jack's friend, Kat (Megan Suri). Iris is terribly in love with Josh and is desperate to make a good impression on his friends and behave herself on this trip. But something really bad happens early on in this visit. And we are then treated to a twist that means the rest of this film becomes an absolute raucous delight with an ever-increasing body count. All of the actors are putting in phenomenal work (Sophie Thatcher is particularly a marvel, while Harvey Guillen and Lukas Gage are also present at this cabin as Jack's friends and offer up excellent comic relief), the script is tight and funny and horrific in all the right ways, and it's a beautiful 97-minute movie that entertains you for just the right amount of time without overstaying its welcome. It's perfect alternative Valentine's Day programming.

Paddington in Peru: I mean let's be real, everyone has to love this movie right? Written by Mark Burton, Jon Foster, and James Lamont, and directed by Dougal Wilson, this is the third installment in the Paddington franchise and is just as charming and delightful as the others. In this film, Paddington and the Brown family embark on a trip to Peru after Paddington receives a worrying message about his Aunt Lucy who lives there in a home for retired bears. Once they get there, the Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman playing a nun, what more could any of us ever want?) who runs the home informs them that Aunt Lucy is missing. Which means that the family must now embark on a harrowing journey through the Amazonian jungle, accompanied by a riverboat captain played by none other than Antonio Banderas. Be prepared for lots of puns, silliness, and Britishness. The production design and animation is remarkable, and there's a powerful story about identity and found family to tie everything up nicely with a lovely bow. You won't be bored for a second and will leave the theater feeling all warm and cozy. And really craving a marmalade sandwich. 

Love Me: Written and directed by Sam and Andy Zuchero, this film is about the love story between a satellite and a buoy. Yes, I too thought that was a typo when I first read a summary of this movie, but that is in fact what this movie is about. Set in a post-apocalyptic Earth where no humans are left on the planet, we get a tale about what happens when a smart weather buoy that is bobbing on the oceans connects with a satellite that is orbiting the planet and contains a full record of all human existence. They start to communicate and then build a virtual world where they exist as human avatars, played by none other than Kristen Stewart and Steven Yuen. That casting alone should convey that this movie is charming AF. It's deliriously inventive and definitely a movie for those who are chronically online. And with a 92-minute runtime, it's this perfectly portioned piece of sci-fi, fantasy, mind-bending entertainment that can thrill your brain and leave you thinking about it for the rest of the day when you leave the theater. Now that's the kind of love story we should all be seeking out.

January Movies Part 5: September 5

I know it's the last day of January, but I managed to squeeze in one last movie at the theater for the month, and it was such a doozy that I had to get on here and tell you all to go watch it immediately. Isn't that exciting?!

Directed by Tom Fehlbaum, who also co-wrote the Oscar-nominated original screenplay with Moritz Binder and Alex David, this movie takes place on September 5, 1972, at the Munich Olympics, when members of a terrorist organization called Black September broke into the apartment housing the Israeli team and took several coaches and athletes hostage. You might know this story from another movie, Steven Spielberg's Munich, that details the covert Israeli operation that was enacted as vengeance for this 1972 attack. But this movie is simply about the events of that one day. And more specifically, it is about the men and women of the ABC Sports television crew who were onsite to film the Olympic Games and then had to pivot to this tense and fraught news story instead.

This movie is a love letter to journalism. It's an astonishing look at a time when only one news network was broadcasting this story live and had to wrestle control of the global satellite from their competitors just to make sure their coverage could be watched by the world. John Magaro is brilliant as Geoffrey Mason, the sports producer in charge of the control room. He has no prior experience covering this type of story, but goes through a trial by fire to conduct a seamless broadcast, all the while gathering new information by the second and having to pivot to his anchors, cameramen, soundmen, and photographers, as well as the non-stop German translation provided by the poor translator, Marianne (Leonie Benesch), who had no idea what she had signed up for when she came to work that morning.

There is such an emphasis on confirming the story with sources and making sure you don't broadcast the news until you are certain they are facts. What a concept. Of course, this film does feature a heartbreaking moment where the president of ABC Sports, Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), does let the compelling ratings overtake the need to be diligent in fact-checking. But it's wild to imagine an age when only one news channel would be broadcasting this information, and they had the awesome responsibility of ensuring 900 million viewers knew what was going on. 

It was only in moments of absolute stillness that I would realize this movie didn't have much of a soundtrack. Instead, the most consistent score is the sound of your pulse pounding in your ears as you lean forward and watch these heroic journalists jerry-rig equipment and put together an astonishingly powerful narrative to let the world know what is happening in Munich, when even the German police don't always seem to have a clue how to deal with the situation. The movie is only 94 minutes long, but it was a profound and intense 94 minutes where my heart was in my mouth, and I was utterly dazzled and awestruck by what was unfolding on the screen.

It makes no sense to me that this movie only got one Oscar nomination for its screenplay, though granted, that screenplay is certainly a masterpiece. I would have loved to see acting nominations for John Magaro and Leonie Benesch who do such incredible work here and make the audience feel immersed in all the chaos and confusion going on around them. The editing is spot on and the cinematography is excellent, featuring a lot of weird angles and shaky camerawork that constantly reinforce the sense of how this crew is having to make this story up as they go along and need to find any opportunity to film this breaking news. This is definitely going to be one of the best movies I've seen in 2025, and I urge everyone to watch it. In these trying times, we all need to remember a time when journalism was pure, and the news was something we could all depend on.

January Movies Part 4: One of Them Days, Mufasa: The Lion King, Queer, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Trying to figure out what to watch in the final days of this month? Well, whether you want some family-friendly animation, some very predictable action, or a hilarious buddy comedy, I've got you covered!

One of Them Days: Written by Syreeta Singleton and directed by Lawrence Lamont, this is a bonkers and delightful buddy comedy about what happens when two women have nine hours to make $1500 of rent money so their landlord doesn't kick them out. Dreux and Alyssa (Keke Palmer and SZA) are best friends who are in a bind because Alyssa gave their rent money to her loser boyfriend, who decided to invest that money in some random scheme instead of handing it over to the landlord. What follows is a romp across Los Angeles as these two women try to figure out how they're going to make that money back quickly. Oh, and Dreux has a very important job interview at 4pm, so they're really on a time crunch.

I won't give away more details, because the events of this film all take place in one day and you need to let each hilarious moment wash over you so you can keep giggling your way through. It's very silly and over-the-top, but Palmer and SZA are two of the most charismatic women on the planet and they have incredible chemistry. They perfectly capture what female friendship is like - you would both do anything to help each other out, but that relationship can also be a rollercoaster where sometimes you are overextending grace when your friend seems intent on making poor life decisions. It's a great movie about friendship but also just an excellent comedy brimming with one-liners (and sometimes just one-worders), that are delivered with absolute panache and relish. If you need to get away from reality and laugh yourself silly for a few hours, this movie is exactly what you need in your life.

Mufasa: The Lion King: I just revisited my 2019 review of the Lion King remake and have to say almost all of it pertains to this movie as well. Does this movie need to exist? No. Is it a pleasant way to spend an afternoon? Kind of? If you thought that 2019 film was a money grab, this movie seems even more blatantly unnecessary, but hey, to each his own. The animation is absolutely spectacular, and it is kind of fun to imagine what Mufasa and his brother, Scar, were like as young lions, and what happened to drive them apart. Timon and Pumba, who I thought were the standouts of the 2019 film, are back, but now the filmmakers have decided to really lean into their double act and offer up a lot of meta commentary that makes this whole endeavor seem even more bizarre. Also, the editing is a little painful, with us constantly going back and forth from the story of Mufasa to the present-day where Rafiki is narrating this story. It feels like something designed for the TikTok generation, where apparently no one has the patience to just watch one story all the way through without constant cuts and stitches to other things in between.

The theater I watched this movie in definitely seemed to have some issues with the sound mix, so the dialogue was often hard to make out and the song lyrics were impossible to hear. As a result, I didn't find myself particularly compelled by any of the new music. Much like my feelings on the indigenous music in Moana 2, I could have done with fewer English songs and just more traditional African singing to set the mood. If you're a Disney person, then sure, so ahead and give this movie all your time and money. But if you're looking for something compelling and engaging, this is not what you seek. 

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: I mean, let's be real. This movie is the single greatest thing you could watch this year. How could anyone not love a Wallace & Gromit movie?! If you've never watched one, hoo boy, are you in for a treat. Filmed in gorgeous, lovingly painstaking stop-motion claymation, these movies follow the adventures of a cheese-loving British inventor named Wallace and his stoic dog, Gromit. In this movie, Feathers McGraw, the villainous penguin from their second adventure, The Wrong Trousers, has returned to cause some trouble, which also involves Wallace's latest invention, a robotic garden gnome named Norbot.

This movie is only 79 minutes long, so rather than spoiling the entire thing, I'll merely beg you to watch it.  It is as charming as can be, thoroughly delightful and inventive, and is best accompanied by a steaming cup of tea and some cheese and crackers. Settle in for the coziest hour of your life. You're welcome.

Back in Action: Do you want to have a truly lazy afternoon and turn your brain off? Then welcome to this movie! Directed by Seth Gordon, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Brendan O'Brien, this is a truly silly film about a spy couple, Emily and Matt (Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx). They are presumed dead after a particularly dangerous mission and decide to settle down to have kids and be a basic, normal family. Well, fifteen years later, some events transpire, their cover is blown, and it turns out that there's some unresolved business from their final mission that has come back to haunt them. There are some twists and turns, all of which you'll see coming from a mile away, and a lot of action and stunt work, which will remind you of Diaz's heyday as one of Charlie's Angels. 

Honestly, you're probably better off rewatching the Charlie's Angels movies instead of this one, but if you're in the mood for a film that won't ask too much of your attention span and lets you laze on the couch for a little longer, then step right up! 

January Binges: Black Doves, The Sticky, Laid, St. Denis Medical

I didn't just watch a bazillion movies in January. I also watched a bazillion TV shows. So if you're looking for your next great binge, might I tempt you with the following?

Black Doves: Written and created by Joe Barton, this is a splendid show starring Keira Knightley as Helen, a deep undercover spy who happens to be married to the UK's Defense Secretary. She is in a prime position to spy on the government and pass along critical information to her handlers, who run a mysterious organization called the Black Doves. This organization is not affiliated with any government - instead, they just sell their information to the highest bidder. Talk about a spy agency that is best suited to our capitalist times. Unfortunately, when Helen has an affair and her lover is subsequently murdered, she goes off on a vengeance spree to unravel what happened to him and deliver justice. All of which is tangled up in some other plots that might involve the Chinese, the Americans, and the British.

Ben Whishaw also stars as Sam, an assassin who returns to London to help Helen in her current predicament. The two of them have a lot of history; over the course of six episodes, you will slowly piece together their backstory and watch these two figure out if they have dug themselves in way too deep or if they truly can salvage the lives they built for themselves whilst still being elite spies. It's the ultimate test of work-life balance, and the show is an incredibly dark comedy, dealing with serious themes but approaching them with a deftly comedic touch that will always prompt an unexpected laugh from you. All the events of this first season take place during Christmas, so if you're still seeking a return to the holiday cheer of December, this could be a wonderful holiday watch. Though perhaps with a little bit more gore than Santa would recommend.

The Sticky: From 2011-12, the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist took place, when 3,000 tonnes of maple syrup were found to have been stolen from Quebec's Maple Syrup Producers Reserve. This syrup was worth millions of dollars, and this theft was the most Canadian crime ever. Well now, creators Brian Donovan and Ed Herro bring us a comical series inspired by that heist that does not purport to be a true story in the slightest.

Margo Martindale stars as Ruth, a maple syrup farmer who is feuding with Leonard (Guy Nadon), the man who runs the Quebec Reserve and has imposed all manner of arduous regulations and limits on the local farmers to curb their supply and reduce how much money they can make. Ruth is struggling financially, so when she is approached by Mike (Chris Diamantopoulos) with a scheme to steal some syrup from the reserve, she reluctantly agrees. Mike is a member of a Boston crime family, desperately trying to prove himself, and he got the idea from Remy (Guillaume Cyr), the lone security guard of the Reserve who has his own reasons for lashing out against Leonard embarking on this heist. What follows is a six-episode series that is kinda silly but perfectly entertaining and will probably end with you making yourself a big stack of pancakes and waffles. Settle in for a delightful brunch!

Laid: Developed by Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna, based off an Australian series, this is a supremely weird but charming show about Ruby (the delightful Stephanie Hsu), a woman who is shocked to discover that all the people she has slept with suddenly seem to be dying. Her best friend, AJ (Zosia Mamet), is a true crime afficionado who starts to investigate what's happening and realizes that these people seem to be dying in the order in which Ruby slept with them. What follows is a desperate scramble to figure out whether this is just a coincidence, and if not, why this is happening, and what on earth can be done to stop it.

Obviously, I don't want to spoil what happens over the course of eight episodes, but let me reassure you that there is in fact a twisted logic to everything, and also a bit of a cliffhanger towards the end that was sufficiently intriguing for a second series. Ruby is an interesting lead, because she is charming but also quite terrible, a selfish woman who has to learn how to put her own neuroses aside to actually think about others for a change. Her friendship with AJ is heartwarming, though complicated, and it's fun to see the two of them banter and evolve over the course of the series. Because of the cliffhanger, you are definitely left wanting more, but the journey is well worth a watch, even if we're still waiting to get to the destination.

St. Denis Medical: Created by Erid Ledgin and Justin Spitzer, this show is currently airing on NBC as a weekly sitcom. So, I binged the first six episodes in a week but can now enjoy a weekly dose of this charming comedy every Tuesday. Set in a small hospital in Oregon, this is a mockumentary where we follow the doctors, nurses, and administrators as they deal with the daily trials and tribulations of their jobs. 

Allison Tolman is charming as Alex, a dedicated nurse who has recently been promoted and is feeling overwhelmed with her new supervisory responsibilities. Wendi McLendon-Covey plays Joyce, a former oncologist who now runs the hospital and is constantly trying to come up with ways to make the hospital more prestigious so it can make more money (alas, that's the capitalism of the American healthcare system for you). You've got David Alan Grier and Josh Lawson, as the cranky emergency physician and blustering trauma surgeon, and Mekki Leeper as a newly-minted nurse who really does not know what he's doing, while Kahyun Kim plays Serena, a confident nurse who also has a bit of a social media obsession. And if you were a fan of Superstore, you will see plenty of supporting actors from that show pop up in this one as part of the Justin Spitzer Television Universe.

It's always hard to come up with a competent network sitcom, but when you do find one that's excellent, you want to ensure it stays on TV for a good long while. So please start watching this show - I need more regular weekly comfort watches in my life and this promises to be a good one. 

January Movies Part 3: The Brutalist

What a movie. I went into this film expecting some sort of vibey, self-indulgent mess, but within a few scenes I was thoroughly captivated. And yes, it's three and a half hours long, but that runtime does not feel remotely painful. This is a movie that is thoroughly epic in scope, and that epic runtime does it justice. It feels so remarkably cheesy to say this, but this is the kind of event film that reminds me of why I love watching movies in the theater. For three and a half hours, the members of the audience and I were our own little community, experiencing this glorious movie together, and it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. To be fair, we lost a few members of our community over time - some people sitting next to me left way before intermission. But forget those losers; the rest of us were united in our awe as we watched this story unfold before our dazzled eyeballs.

Directed by Brady Corbet, who co-wrote the screenplay with his partner Mona Fastvold, this film tells the story of a Hungarian architect, Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody, who seems destined for yet another Oscar), who survived the Holocaust but was forcibly separated from his wife and orphaned niece. Immigrating to America in the hopes of a brighter future, he arrives on Ellis Island in 1947 to rebuild his life. This movie has a shot of the Statue of Liberty from a perspective I've never seen her from before, which served as my first clue that this movie was going to introduce me to a lot of new perspectives for the next few hours. Laszlo subsequently takes the bus to Philadelphia where he is reunited with his cousin, Attila (Alessandro Nivola), and his American wife, Audrey (Emma Laird). They are initially generous and give Laszlo a chance to build a life for himself, but things really kick into high gear when he meets Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), a wealthy industrialist who takes a shine to this poor Hungarian man who seems to have a genuine flair for architecture and design. The movie then proceeds to follow one long construction project that will end up revealing the innermost workings of Lazslo's mind and the corrupt nature of his benefactors. He will also be reunited with his wife, Erzsebet (Felicity Jones), and niece, Zsofia (Raffey Cassidy), who have been through their own horrors and must now adjust to life in America, where they are still treated with suspicion as foreigners and Jews.

Firstly, kudos are due to this script. I genuinely left this film believing it was a biopic; it is a testament to how brilliantly well-realized these characters are that I didn't doubt for a second that they must be actual people. There were some shocking moments that I did not anticipate, and I thought, "oh wow, are the filmmakers going to get sued by the descendants of these people for portraying them in such a negative light?" Well, turns out this movie is entirely fictional, so that will not be a concern. A significant reason for the authenticity of this film is due to the attention to detail to the brutalist architecture. Production designer Judy Becker has done a bewilderingly excellent job of researching unrealized designs of architects who died in the Holocaust and attempting to bring some version of their designs to life. And I still cannot quite believe that the main construction project that this movie spends its time on does not actually exist. There are so many details that Laszlo obsesses over in this film, and I genuinely found myself invested in all those little architectural flourishes. I was honestly thinking about planning a trip to Doylestown, Pennsylvania to visit this building - well, it's not there. Good God.

On every technical level, this movie is a marvel. I have been watching a lot of movies recently that are grainy and dark, and that aesthetic is meant to make the film seem more authentic and edgy and awards-worthy. Well, none of that here. The cinematography by Lol Crawley is stunning, and scenes are lit up perfectly and crisply and awe-inspiringly. There's an early scene where we see Laszlo's design for a library; the way the sunlight filters into the room through gauzy curtains and burnishes the warm wood of the shelves instantly makes you understand what a visionary he is and how he has created a perfect environment for lounging with a book for hours. After being imprisoned in dark concentration camps, Laszlo is obsessed with windows and light and using the environment surrounding his buildings as much as possible. I don't think I will ever be able to view brutalist architecture in the same way again - yes, on the outside it may not seem aesthetically pleasing, but the way it uses the space and light and natural surroundings is utterly captivating. In the latter half of this movie, there is a scene set in the Italian marble quarry in Carrara and boy, I have never been more besotted with a slab of marble in all my life.

The score by Daniel Blumberg is also a thing of beauty. The sweeping orchestral arrangement from the very beginning as you see Lady Liberty fully conveys the scope and majesty of this film and lets you know you're in for an incredible ride. But then there is always something slightly discordant and weird hovering at its fringes, an instrument you don't expect to hear, a tinny noise that is so out of place in the overall grandeur of what is otherwise being portrayed. It's a perfect encapsulation of everything this movie is attempting to parse out regarding Laszlo and his grand, sweeping ambitions, but all the horrible little injustices he has to constantly deal with and the many atrocities that he has had to endure continue to prick at him even as he attempts to move on with his life. He may think that he has been saved and is on to bigger and better things, but no, there's always something a little bit wrong that insistently clamors from the periphery.

Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones deliver powerhouse performances that feel real and lived in and remarkable. Their characters are put through the wringer in this film, and they approach every hurdle with determination and grit and an amazing resilience that is a testament to all the Holocaust survivors who had to continue living their lives after experiencing the most senseless devastation. And Guy Pearce is sensational, delivering a performance that initially feels like a bit of a caricature, but has this edge to it that you don't quite figure out until you get to a pivotal scene towards the end when all of his menace suddenly becomes abundantly clear. Joe Alwyn is also great as Van Buren's horrible son, Harry, a haughty and cruel man who seems to be the movie's villain until you realize how petty and prosaic his brand of evil is in comparison to his father's. 

What a movie. Every year at the Oscars we get a big song and dance about the magic of cinema, and we all roll our eyes about how Hollywood is so full of itself. But The Brutalist truly captures that magic. There is one scene where Laszlo goes to a theater that is showing black-and-white porn. I had never seen anything like that before, and it served as a reminder that the movies aren't just about grand, sweeping epics, but also about quotidian smut that people have been filming ever since film was invented. And people have been going to theaters for years to watch stuff like that before we all just retreated to the privacy of the Internet. But The Brutalist is a reminder that once in a while, we all need to leave our houses and the Internet and go to the movies, even if it's going to take up nearly four hours of our day. Because we are going to have a truly transcendental journey watching a unique, compelling, and riveting story that we never expected to see and will never see again. The Brutalist offers up an immersive, awesome experience at the cinema, and once you leave the theater, you will never look at the world around you in quite the same way ever again.

January Movies Part 2: The Fire Inside, Blitz, The Last Showgirl, Better Man

January has turned into a fiercely busy movie month for me. So gird your loins, a slew of reviews are coming your way!

The Fire Inside: Written by Barry Jenkins and directed by Rachel Morrison (who was the first woman to be nominated for the Best Cinematography Oscar in 2017), this is an excellent biopic about Claressa Shields (played brilliantly by Ryan Destiny), a boxer from Flint, Michigan who overcame tremendous personal adversity to make it all the way to the London 2012 Olympics, with the help of her amazing coach, Jason Crutchfield (Bryan Tyree Henry, delivering an unsurprisingly marvelous performance, full of warmth and wisdom). I had never heard of Shields, but having now watched this film, I'm shocked that she isn't a bigger deal, considering the long list of accolades she holds and the records she has broken in her quest for athletic greatness. Of course, a significant portion of this film deals with the inherent racism and misogyny that Shields had to face, where despite winning an Olympic gold medal (oops, spoilers?), she still struggled to find sponsorship deals or endorsements, because people just don't like to see a Black woman beating people up for sport.

I find it unfathomable that this movie hasn't been in the conversation for awards this year, which perhaps speaks to the fact that #OscarsSoWhite continues to be a huge problem. While I'm ordinarily not a huge fan of biopics, this film has a tight script and captivating performances, particularly from Destiny who has to portray a woman who doesn't convey a whole lot of emotion through words, but can poignantly express herself through her stance and body language. One of the first scenes with a young Claressa involves her shying away from a hug from Jason, and that one little movement is enough to convey a world of backstory. This is a film that is content to show, not tell, and the fight sequences are also extraordinarily choreographed, conveying just how talented and remarkable this woman is in the ring. So watch this movie to learn more about a woman who ought to be a household name and to consider how far we still have to go to give women, and especially Black women, the support and encouragement they deserve.

Blitz: Written and directed by Steve McQueen, this is a movie set during the height of the World War II Blitz when London was being relentlessly bombed by the German Luftwaffe. Saoirse Ronan stars as Rita, a single mother who lives with her father and is raising her nine-year-old son, George (Elliott Heffernan), who is half-Black. She decides to send George away from the city to protect him from the bombs, but George only interprets this as gross abandonment by his mother. When he gets on the train, he tells her he hates her, which makes for a brutal parting. Halfway through his train journey, George is overcome with homesickness, and it doesn’t help that the other children are a bunch of racists who make fun of him for being Black. He jumps off the train and thus begins a long odyssey back home, where this poor boy will encounter any number of horrors. 

I can’t say I loved this film - much like the Blitz, it was relentless in its onslaught of terrible things this poor child has to witness on his journey home. But the production design is absolutely epic in scope. Most WWII movies focus on what was happening on the battlefield, but this is the first time I have felt truly immersed in what was happening on the home front and the absolutely insanity ordinary British citizens were subject to during this time. And Heffernan delivers a brilliant performance as a young child who has to grow up far too quickly, not just when it comes to dealing with the perils of war, but also the perils of racism. If this is a period of history that fascinates you, this movie is well worth a watch, but if you are already too overwhelmed by the present-day perils of 2025, give this film a miss.

The Last Showgirl: Written by Kate Gersten and directed by Gia Coppola, this movie has been rightfully earning Pamela Anderson heaps of praise for her performance as Shelly, a 57-year-old Las Vegas showgirl who has to figure out what to do with her life when she finds out the revue show she has been a part of for decades is shutting down. We get to explore her relationships with the younger women in the revue (played by Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Song), who alternate between treating Shelly like a mother figure that can provide comfort or an exasperating older woman who is full of tales of when this show was more popular and prestigious. She has an ambiguous relationship with the show's producer, Eddie (a wonderful performance by Dave Bautista - the man has expressed interest in being in a romcom, and while this movie is a straight-up drama, it's easy to see how wonderful he would be if given the chance to just be a romantic leading man - make it happen Hollywood!). And there's also a great friendship with Annette (the incomparable Jamie Lee Curtis), a dancer who used to be in the revue but then got kicked out and became a chaotic cocktail waitress instead.

But putting aside all the wonderful supporting performances, Anderson truly shines in this role, as a woman who adores her job and has made it her entire identity, probably at the expense of other more crucial elements of her life. She loves to dance, and she loves being in the spotlight, and as the movie progresses, we come to see the abject cruelty that is ahead of her because this is not a career that is feasible for an older woman. She has so much talent and passion, but none of that matters when you're a 57-year-old woman in Vegas, and the gradual dissolution of her hopes and dreams seems imminent. And yet, this character is so perpetually hopeful and optimistic and such a striver. It's a wondrous thing to watch the emotions flitting across Anderson's face as she constantly has to adjust her expectations and cope and then temporarily give in to despair before she puts on her feathers and diamonds and gives a dazzling smile to the audience. It's a tour de force performance that will stick with you for a long time after you've seen it.

Better Man: I grew up in the Middle East and listened to the UK Top 40 every week, so I am well aware of who Robbie Williams is. That information is necessary, because every American person I have spoken to has said, "who is Robbie Williams?!" Which means there's a high barrier to entry for this movie, which is a biopic of the famous British pop singer, Robbie Williams, chronicling his rise to fame as a part of the boy band Take That, his subsequent move to a solo career, and the alcohol and drug addictions that plagued him along the way. Oh, and while the actor Jonno Davies is playing Williams in the movie, he is doing so via motion capture as a CGI chimpanzee. For reasons that are not super clear but essentially amount to the fact that Williams always perceived himself to be "less evolved" than other people and had a very self-deprecating image of himself, that may have led to all those addiction issues to begin with.

Listen, I'm not here to sell you on this movie. It's directed by Michael Gracey, who directed The Greatest Showman, so you can be assured there are some incredible song-and-dance numbers sprinkled throughout this film that are spectacular to behold. And if you're a fan of Williams' music, all the hits are represented, and you'll have a great time. As someone who was a fan of his music but didn't know much about his backstory, I was quite fascinated to learn about his interactions with various other famous British pop stars and the sordid behind-the-scenes machinations of his career. It's a weird little movie that is going to appeal to a fairly niche audience, and while I thought it was a perfectly entertaining way to spend two hours, I'm not going to pretend anyone else is gonna get a kick out of it, particularly if you have no idea who Robbie is. So check it out if you're a huge fan and want to bop along in your seat as a singing chimp dances to Rock DJ. If not, move along.

January Movies Part 1: Maria, Nightbitch, Juror #2

Happy New Year! January has rolled around and awards season is in full swing so I shall continue to watch all the things that have a hope of being nominated. Here are some reviews of some contenders.

Maria: Written by Steven Knight and directed by Pablo Larrain, this film completes Larrain's trilogy of notable 20th-century women that includes Jackie and Spencer. In this film, we get a biopic of renowned opera singer Maria Callas (played by Angelina Jolie), a woman who had a voice that was famous around the world. We meet her a week before her death, and the film then proceeds with a series of flashbacks highlighting key moments in Maria's life, including her impoverished childhood and subsequent rise to stardom because of her prodigious talent. Eventually, she was hobnobbing with the rich and famous, even becoming Aristotle Onassis's mistress (before and after his marriage to Jackie, so the Pablo Larrain Cinematic Universe really comes together). 

This movie is...fine. I loved Larrain's other films so I'm a little surprise by my lukewarm reaction to this one, but it struck me as being the most humdrum and "biopic-y" of the trilogy. It didn't seem to have much to say about its subject, and also it leaned on her singing as a crutch, always cutting to a performance from the past and interspersing it with the present when Maria has lost her voice and can't sing as beautifully anymore. There's only so many times I can watch that gimmick in one movie, you know? I also cannot stand opera, so perhaps I was too biased going into this film. I have previously always loved the scores in Larrain's movies and think they do a tremendous amount of scene setting, so perhaps if you are an opera afficionado, this movie has a lot more to offer you. Unfortunately, this movie could not win me over, and while Jolie does do her best with the material, she is quite obviously lip synching for the majority of the film and it all felt a bit unnecessary. Ultimately, I didn't need this tale of another tragic woman that people forgot once she couldn't give them what they wanted anymore. It's a tale as old as time.

Nightbitch: Written and directed by Marielle Heller, based on the novel by Rachel Yoder, this is certainly a fresh tale about the horrors of motherhood and the gender dynamics at play when you become a parent. I am famously childfree, and this movie does a great job of explaining exactly why that is my stance. Amy Adams plays an unnamed woman, the Mother (duh), a woman who was an artist but gave it all up to be a stay-at-home mother to her two-year-old son. Her husband (Scoot McNairy) travels a lot for work, so she usually feels like a single parent, stuck at home with her toddler, trying to keep him amused at Book Babies and Toddler Yoga, and all the other distractions, while internally she just wants to scream. It's nothing we haven't seen before, but what is novel is that suddenly, she starts turning into a dog.

Yup, I said it. It's hard to explain, so you'll just have to watch for yourself, but the metaphor is essentially that motherhood turns you into a wild animal and you have no time for niceties because you're just so consumed with the basic needs of staying alive and protecting your young. This is a movie about exalting mothers and all the shit they put up with, particularly in a patriarchal society like the United States where families don't get enough parental leave and have extremely limited childcare options which may not even be affordable when they are available. And also, where your husband can get away with doing absolutely nothing around the house or acting really put-upon when he does have to take care of his kid for a day. If you are a mother, this movie might be an excellent one to watch with your partner and then have a serious discussion about whether your household has an equitable division of labor. If you are NOT a mother, however, please do watch this movie as a reminder of how much goddamn work it is to take care of a child and whether or not this is something you genuinely want to take on in your life. Even if you are so economically privileged as to stay at home with your child while your partner works, this movie serves as a reminder that children are exhausting, and being a mother only results in losing your whole identity. Unless you turn into a Nightbitch.

Juror #2: Written by Jonathan Abrams and directed by Client Eastwood, this is a perfectly middling courtroom drama that is worth a watch on the couch if that genre is of particular interest to you. Nicholas Hoult stars as Justin, a man who is called into jury duty and then is selected for a homicide trial. However, once the trial is underway, Justin realizes he is in possession of information that could exonerate the defendant. Justin can't share this information, however, because it would put him in trouble instead. Oops.

What follows is a twisty little tale, very reminiscent of Twelve Angry Men, where you have Justin as the one juror who says "Not Guilty!" and must then try and convince his peers that the prosecution don't have enough evidence and the defendant could potentially be innocent. The prosecutor (Toni Collette), is an ambitious woman running to become the state's district attorney, while the public defender (Chris Messina), is convinced his client is innocent, but has no way to prove it. You will scoff at a lot of what's happening because it's all very Hollywood and nothing that would be allowed in real life, but hey, that's why we watch the movies right? The actors are doing fine work, but the script is hokey as hell, and honestly, the ending is a bit of a cop out. But if you enjoy this kind of drama with high stakes and genuine suspense until the very end, this is a perfectly acceptable way to spend two hours of your afternoon.