Tag Archives: film

REVIEW: “Jay Kelly” (2025)

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4

File Noah Baumbach under ‘Filmmakers I’ll Watch No Matter What’. I have been drawn to his unique body of work since his early Wes Anderson collaborations. And I have enjoyed most of the films he has directed from high-spirited indies à la “Frances Ha”, to serious-minded dramas such as “Marriage Story”, to utterly bizarre concoctions like “White Noise”. I just love his eccentric style, off-beat perspective, and rich dialogue.

His latest is “Jay Kelly” and it’s very much a Noah Baumbach movie. Yet at the same time, it distinctly stands out in a number of interesting ways. Unlike Baumbach’s tightly focused settings, this one plays out on a noticeably grander scale. And rather than tell something more intimate, this time he broadens his story significantly. Even the filmmaking feels different, using a style that calls back to classic Old Hollywood productions.

In a nifty bit of casting, George Clooney plays the titular Jay Kelly, a celebrated actor whose existential crisis forces him to reevaluate what matters most in his life. The movie opens with Jay wrapping his latest film, “Eight Men From Now”. Jay’s hard-working and intensely loyal manager Ron (a terrific Adam Sandler) already has his famous client’s next feature lined up. But Jay throws Ron a curveball when he announces he’s pulling out of his next movie and taking a trip to Europe.

Image Courtesy of Netflix

Jay’s out-of-the-blue decision puts his handlers in a panic as they scramble to make sense of his actions. Ron is forced to set aside his own family plans and join Jay and his entourage on a plane bound for Paris. There he plans on surprising his youngest daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards), who’s traveling abroad with friends. Afterwards he plans on hopping a train for Tuscany where he’s to accept a career achievement award that he had previously declined.

Ron’s main job is to coddle his star client while convincing him not to quit his next movie. But the blasé Jay is more interested in mingling with adoring fans and tracking down Daisy, who would rather be with her traveling companions. It all frustrates Jay’s handlers, especially his volatile publicist Liz (Laura Dern). But amid the chaos, we begin to see the real reason for Jay’s inward sabbatical. He begins reflecting on his life, from his career successes to his failings as a father.

In his melancholy, Jay begins weighing his past choices which forces him to reckon with their consequences, mostly involving his two daughters. While he at least has some connection with the younger Daisy, his relationship with his oldest daughter Jessica (Riley Keough) has soured. The fallout from prioritizing himself and his career has left a divide that she’s not ready to bridge. Keough only gets a couple of scenes, but she provides the story’s most heart-wrenching moments.

Image Courtesy of Netflix

Baumbach also gives time to Jay’s relationship with Ron which plays a key role in the star’s journey. Clooney and Sandler have terrific chemistry and consistently find humanity and humor in the scenes they share. Clooney slides right into Jay’s skin, at times so convincingly that you could interpret it as him playing a version of himself. Meanwhile Sandler gives one of the best supporting performances of the year and one of the best performances of his career. In many ways he’s the beating heart of the story, embodying the many things Jay has lost sight of in the name of success.

Early on, Jay makes the revealing statement, “All my memories are movies.” Could it mean that he has invested so much of his life to movies that it’s hard to find a memory that’s not in front of a camera? Or does he mean he has no memories of his own; that his memories are movies – scripted, directed, and produced for others to relish? Both can be true, and both add to Jay’s overwhelming feeling of regret.

Baumbach’s soulful script (which he co-wrote with Emily Mortimer) has us accompany Jay Kelly on a painful personal journey of self-reflection. But to Baumbach and Mortimer’s credit, they don’t turn it into a clean-cut redemption story. While they do find empathy for Jay, there’s no tidy reprieve from the personal consequences or the collateral damage he has left behind. Together with its rich, nuanced performances, lush cinematography, and Baumbach’s vibrant direction, “Jay Kelly” resonates as both a contemplative character study and a meaningful cautionary tale.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

REVIEW: “Die My Love” (2025)

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11

Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson are a couple trapped in a doomed relationship in director Lynne Ramsay’s grueling new feature, “Die My Love”. This is her first film since 2017’s much different but equally grim “You Were Never Really Here”. Though based on a 2012 Ariana Harwicz novel, Ramsay’s adaptation says nearly everything it has to say within the first half-hour. The remaining 90 minutes plays like misery porn as we watch a woefully unhappy woman barreling towards destruction.

“Die My Love” is written by the trio of Ramsay, Enda Walsh, and Alice Birch. Their story pitilessly blends motherhood and madness in a way that is surprisingly cold and unforgiving towards the lead characters, the lead cast, and the audience. It toys with such themes as postnatal depression and isolation. But Ramsay’s smothering approach spends more time breaking down and laying bare Lawrence’s character (as much physically as psychologically) than doing much meaningful with the themes that are introduced.

Image Courtesy of Mubi

The film opens by introducing us to an unstable young couple, Grace (Lawrence) and Jackson (Pattinson). The two have moved away from the hustle and bustle of the big city to an old house in rural Montana that Jackson inherited from his late uncle. The couple settles into their new home, and following a rather ludicrous sex montage, they have a baby boy. From there to the final frame, the movie follows the slow disintegration of their ill-fated relationship.

Both Grace and Jackson are dissolute and self-destructive, to such a degree that we know things aren’t going to end well. But while Jackson has his own set of issues, it’s Grace who finds herself in the center of Ramsay’s sights. She’s a stalled writer who loses all inspiration and motivation after becoming a stay-at-home mother. She gets little support from Jackson who is off working for days at a time. And when he is home, his insensitivity (which seems to spring from nowhere) only pushes her closer to the edge.

But none of this is especially surprising considering Grace and Jackson never really feel like a true-to-life couple. They never have real-world conversations and so many of their interactions appear staged for the camera. Brief supporting work from Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte does more to ground Grace and Jackson than anything they do together. It’s a critical issue that leaves us with two shallow and intemperate hipsters rather than an organic couple with actual depth and complexities.

It ends up being all about Grace and her downward spiral. Her behavior gets increasingly bizarre, soon resembling full-on psychosis more than postpartum depression. Lawrence fully commits, crawling around on all fours, rabidly barking at Jackson’s annoying dog, furiously clawing away at wallpaper until her fingers bleed, throwing herself through a glass door, and randomly taking off her clothes whenever Ramsay asks. It’s the kind of performance awards voters often fall for, yet here it feels so hollow.

Image Courtesy of Mubi

Unlike Ramsay’s previous films, “Die My Love” is full of empty provocations that are more interested in shocking the audience than challenging us with substance. When not assaulting us with weird needle-drops and stylistic flourishes, Ramsay is sprinkling gasoline on the fire that is Grace’s sanity. And for what purpose? The movie has already played its hand by the 20-minute mark. Even later, when we’re led to believe Grace is “better”, we can easily see through her sudden turn towards domesticity.

“Die My Love” ends up being a maddening experience. It’s essentially the equivalent of lighting a fuse and waiting two hours for your main character to finally blow. It’s just pointless misery with rarely a reprieve. Ramsay is a talented filmmaker who is no stranger to working with dark and unsettling material. But with “Die My Love”, she seems too focused on her own abrasive formalism and with pushing her acclaimed lead actress to ridiculous lengths.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

REVIEW: “A House of Dynamite” (2025)

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5

Kathryn Bigelow’s highly anticipated and long awaited next movie has finally arrived via Netflix. It’s “A House of Dynamite” and it’s Bigelow’s first feature film since her 2017 historical crime drama “Detroit”. This is another audacious swing from the Oscar-winning director who delivers a harrowing ‘what-if’ nail-biter that’s infused with a sobering sense of urgency. It’s one of the best films of the year.

“A House of Dynamite” is a riveting thriller that can also serve as a pressing wake-up call to the ever-present danger of living in this new nuclear age. Written for the screen by Noah Oppenheim, the story plays like a hardcore military/political procedural laced with 1990s thriller vibes. But it’s Bigelow’s striking efficiency and razor-sharp precision that makes the movie’s engine hum. She maintains such control of the story’s many moving parts while keeping her audience firmly in her grip for the duration.

Bigelow is helped by a star-studded ensemble who fill out this three-pronged story. The narrative structure follows one significant event but tells it from three distinct yet interconnected perspectives. It begins at the 49th Missile Defense Battalion at Fort Greely, Alaska. Major Daniel Gonzalez (Anthony Ramos) and his unit pickup an unidentified ballistic missile in the air. At first they believe it’s a test. But by failing to detect the launch’s point of origin, they don’t know for sure.

Image Courtesy of Netflix

Fort Greely informs the White House situation room in Washington DC where Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson) and her team monitor potential threats to the country. Experts soon inform Walker that the missile is not a test and is only 19 minutes away from striking the continental United States. Multiple agencies spring into action, making efforts to intercept the missile while narrowing down its impact zone. As the clock counts down, fear and anxiety sets in.

We then hop back in time to when the missile was first detected but shift our focus to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska where General Anthony Brady (Tracy Letts) leads the US Strategic Command and Control. Brady’s team is able to determine the missile’s target to be Chicago and its 9.2 million people. With a nuclear attack seeming imminent, Brady pushes for the President to immediately consider a counter attack. But Deputy National Security Advisor Jake Baerington (Gabriel Basso) disagrees, insisting they get more information before thrusting the world into a nuclear war.

The movie transports us back once more, this time focusing on the President of the United States (played by an impressively grounded Idris Elba). We follow him as he gets word about the inbound missile and works under immense pressure to decide the best course of action. Does he follow Brady’s recommendation and counterattack before their window closes? Or does he listen to Baerington and wait, despite the dangers of doing so?

Image Courtesy of Netflix

The cast is full of other supporting players who have their own roles in the story. Jason Clarke plays the senior Situation Room officer and Walker’s boss. Greta Lee plays an intelligence agent with the NSA. Moses Ingram plays a FEMA official. Jared Harris plays the Secretary of Defense. Renée Elise Goldsberry plays the First Lady. Jonah Hauer-King plays the President’s retaliatory adviser. These are just some of the characters serving as key pieces in the story, who either provide vital information that moves the plot forward or add needed humanity to the chaos.

“A House of Dynamite” wastes no time lighting its fuse and it steadily burns right up to the film’s gutsy finish. It’s a near certainty that some viewers will be upset with where Bigelow pulls the plug. But I can’t imagine a more effective ending for the kind of impression she wants to leave. The palpable fear, the unnerving uncertainty, the sobering real-world relevance – it all hits like a hammer in the film’s final shots which Bigelow lands just as intended.

With “A House of Dynamite” Bigelow reminds us of how close we are to annihilation and how helpless we would be once those dominoes started to fall. At the same time, her film maintains its human pulse, never losing sight of the personal stakes for many of the people involved. The changes in viewpoints work surprisingly well within the ticking clock formula in large part thanks to Bigelow’s laser-focused execution. The urgency is emphasized in Barry Ackroyd’s documentary-style cinematography while the tone resonates through the ominous groan of Volker Bertelmann’s score. It all creates a tension-fueled movie that offers a prescient warning for our current day. “A House of Dynamite” premieres October 24th on Netflix.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Black Phone 2” (2025)

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10

Scott Derrickson’s 2021 horror gem “The Black Phone” left a mark with its sinister tone and edge-of-your-seat suspense. But its ace in the hole was Ethan Hawke who took on a role unlike any other in his brilliant forty-year career. Hawke played The Grabber, a serial killer and child abductor who terrorized the residents of a Denver suburb. Hawke lost himself in the character and delivered a horror movie antagonist that was both chilling and fascinating.

Derrickson returns to direct and rejoins C. Robert Cargill in writing the script for “Black Phone 2”, a sequel set four years after the events of the first film. Even more exciting, Ethan Hawke returns as The Grabber who (and this may be a spoiler for series newcomers) was killed at the end of the first film. But Derrickson and Cargill have created a surprisingly compelling angle to bring their villain back, and they manage to extend the original story in a unique and effective way.

“The Black Phone” drew its inspiration from a 2005 short story by Joe Hill. It laid the groundwork for the unexpected narrative twists of “Black Phone 2”. Set in 1982, the sequel continues the stories of brother and sister Finney and Gwen Blake (played by the returning Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw). Now 17-years-old, Finney has tried burying his trauma since grabbing headlines as the lone survivor of The Grabber’s murder spree.

Image Courtesy of Universal Pictures

But the movie is most interested in Finney’s kid sister Gwen, whose mysterious power (or curse) played a big part in the first movie. Gwen’s clairvoyance is manifested in dreams that she doesn’t fully understand. Lately they’ve been horrifying nightmares where she witnesses the brutal murders of three young boys. There is also the piercing rings of a black rotary phone – a potential connection to The Grabber. Each new nightmare gets more vivid and more disturbing. And each points to Alpine Lake Youth Camp high up in the Rocky Mountains.

Desperate for answers, Finney, Gwen, and her wannabe boyfriend Ernie (Miguel Mora) head to Alpine Lake to investigate. Posing as counselors in training, the trio arrive in the middle of a blizzard and are greeted by a limited staff including the owner, Armando Reyes (Demián Bichir). While there, Gwen’s terrifying dreams intensify. They begin with horrific encounters with the three mutilated little boys. But soon it’s The Grabber himself, now a raging vengeful spirit with an ax to grind with Finney and Gwen.

Derrickson really leans into the added supernatural spin, taking an already dark and unnerving story and making it even more unsettling. Along the way, we’re treated to several intriguing connections and unexpected reveals, some of which change our perspective on the first film in some surprisingly clever ways. They tell us more about The Grabber’s violent history as well as Finney and Gwen’s family struggles.

The performances from the young stars are generally good although the script trips them up on occasion. This is especially true with McGraw who is routinely forced to blurt out 80s-inspired insults which sound more hokey than authentic. Otherwise both she and Thames meet the many demands of their roles. We also get good supporting turns from Bichir and Jeremy Davies as Finney and Gwen’s father, Terrence.

Image Courtesy of Universal Pictures

As for Hawke, aside from a few glimpses in a handful of early flashbacks, it’s nearly an hour before we see him as The Grabber. And once he appears he is every bit as chilling as before, lurking in the shadows of Gwen’s dreams while grimly uttering his lines with an ethereal menace. He’s a haunting presence with powers inspired by Freddy Krueger, but whose vengeful rage and sadism is far more serious and focused.

The movie makes a number of impressive choices, but some of the most effective involve its bold visuals. Derrickson shoots Gwen’s dream sequences using Super 8mm and 16mm, giving them a grainy old home video quality. Together with the crackle of static in the audio, it creates an eerie and dread-soaked atmosphere. It’s a very specific and potent visual choice that’s more than just a gimmick. And it stands out even more once Derrickson begins integrating it with the digital photography of the ‘real world’.

“Black Phone 2” is a terrific sequel that many of us didn’t know we needed. From its well-developed character arcs to its sinister set pieces, the movie uses every facet of filmmaking to make us squirm in our seats but also empathize with its characters as they navigate such common yet weighty themes as processing trauma, facing fears, family bonds, and the testing of faith. Admittedly the rules of ‘dreams versus reality’ aren’t always clear, especially in the final act. But it’s easy to look past such small gripes after considering the keen vision and first-rate execution of this worthwhile sequel that’s full of proud callbacks and original twists all its own.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

REVIEW: “Eddington” (2025)

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Ari Aster’s short but attention-getting feature film career has been a fascinating rollercoaster. It began with a bang with his exceptional 2018 supernatural/psychological horror gem “Hereditary”. He followed it up with 2019’s “Midsommar” – a movie with a first half that is every bit as brilliant as his debut film and an unfortunate second half that goes completely off the rails. Things only got worse with 2023’s disastrous “Beau Is Afraid”.

Now Aster is back with his fourth film and with it we see his career pendulum swinging back mightily the other way. Aster takes a bold and provocative swing with “Eddington”, shrewdly straddling the line between satirical black comedy and a Neo-Western thriller. His story is set in 2020 during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. He takes an unvarnished look at the heightened paranoia and anxieties that swept through communities while spotlighting the political opportunism and obstinance that only made things more complicated.

Adding to the already tumultuous landscape were the growing tensions following the killing of George Floyd. Impassioned protests swept across the country. But several were overthrown by aggressive rioters, sometimes prompted by well-funded outside agitators eager to plunge the country into violence. Aster’s willingness to take on such fresh wounds speaks to his audacity. But what’s amazing is how well he pulls this crazy thing off.

Image Courtesy of A24

While some may try hard to put “Eddington” in their political corner, the film openly fillets the political left, right, and most everyone in between. It should be stated that Aster isn’t fence-straddling. He offers frank and truthful observations through a fable that is as thematically chaotic as the times it represents (and fittingly so). Most will remember the events with alarming clarity which may make this a difficult watch. Yet Aster mines so many darkly funny moments out of the pointed, pathetic, and preposterous scenes that unfold before us.

The story plays out in Eddington, a small dried-up New Mexico town with a population of 2,435. It’s where we meet Sheriff Joe Cross (an exceptionally pitiful Joaquin Phoenix), a by-the-books rural conservative who keeps the law in his quiet town with the help of his two deputies, Guy (Luke Grimes) and Michael (Michael Ward). The only thing more frustrating to Joe than mask mandates and government imposed lockdowns is his live-in mother-in-law, Dawn (Deirdre O’Connell) who rarely misses a chance to scrutinize how he handles his dissociative wife Louise (an underused Emma Stone).

Joe doesn’t see the coronavirus or the growing unrest as Eddington problems. This puts him at odds with Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), Eddington’s incumbent mayor who is up for reelection. Ted stands for nearly everything Joe is against. He’s a good-looking and good-talking politician who is intent on protecting his political career by staying on his liberal governor’s good side. That means imposing and enforcing mandates and policies that don’t always apply to him. Far shadier is his involvement in a massive AI data center set to be constructed on Native American land outside of Eddington.

Image Courtesy of A24

As the tensions fester between Joe and Ted, a small but growing BLM-inspired protest breaks out on Main Street. They’re spearheaded by the impressionable Sarah (Amélie Hoeferle) whose verbiage and sloganizing sounds plucked from TikTok videos rather than out of organic conviction. She’s supported by Brian (Cameron Mann) who is more smitten with her than their cause. Joe is ill-equipped to either control the crowd or empathize with their cause which only makes things worse.

Aster throws in so many other things, all ripe for critique. Conspiracy theories, misinformation, social media dependency, cult leaders (a shaggy but captivating Austin Butler is a brief delight), white middle-class radicalism, etc. With so much laid out, the budding question became how would Aster wrangle it all together? The answer – with an insanely violent Tarantino flavored exclamation point at the end. It’s a wildly entertaining finish that speaks to where our intensifying divisions could eventually lead us.

“Eddington” feels like a movie some will need to wrestle with, not just for days but perhaps years. It’s a feature that demands a level of honesty and introspection. Those unwilling will likely contort the movie to fit their political dogmas or simply dismiss it altogether. But those willing to look deeper will find a well-conceived and well-crafted satire that is both ruthlessly funny and daringly insightful. Top it off with a terrific cast (none better than Phoenix), and you have Aster’s best film since his stellar debut. “Eddington” is in theaters now.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

REVIEW: “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (2025)

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7

Riding hot on the heels of Wes Craven’s enormous box office hit “Scream”, director Jim Gillespie’s 1997 slasher “I Know What You Did Last Summer” pretty much followed the same path to success. It was made on a small budget, it featured a collection of fresh young faces, and it raked in a lot of money leading to one immediate sequel, one later direct-to-video sequel, a now a legacy sequel that follows the events from the second movie.

Originally based on a 1973 novel by Lois Duncan, “I Know What You Did Last Summer” pulls inspiration from an old urban legend of the Hookman. In the 1997 film, a group of teenage friends from Southport, North Carolina are terrorized by a hook-wielding killer one year after they covered up a car accident where they accidentally killed a man. Murder and mayhem ensued as the friends found themselves the target of a mysterious killer.

Image Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

The 2025 film (which follows that silly trend of using the same name as a previous installment) takes place 28 years after the Southport murders. Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, working from a script she co-wrote with Sam Lansky, basically follows the same blueprint as the first film, with a new group of friends and a couple of old familiar faces which fans will enjoy seeing despite them feeling shoehorned in.

Five not so interesting friends, Ava (Chase Sui Wonders), Danica (Madelyn Cline), Milo (Jonah Hauer-King), Teddy (Tyriq Withers), and Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon), drive up in the hills overlooking Southport for the best view of the town’s annual late-night Fourth of July fireworks show. As the group dumbly goofs around in the middle of the winding road, a truck is forced to swerve to miss them, plunging off the gorge to the rocks below.

Rather than help, the frightened group flee the scene. They later find out the driver was killed, but Teddy’s wealthy father (Billy Campbell) uses his influence with the cops to keep the kids from being implicated. The five friends take an oath to never mention what happened to anyone. But if you know anything about the original movie you know their secret comes back to haunt them.

One year later, Danica receives a mysterious note the reads “I know what you did last summer“. It forces the five startled friends back together where they quickly find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding killer in a rain slicker. While the police aren’t much help, they find unexpected allies in Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr.) – two original survivors of the 1997 murder spree.

Image Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

Robinson and Lansky try but have a tough time giving us anyone to root for. It’s no fault of the cast as everyone puts what they can into their mostly hollow characters. Even Hewitt and Prinze Jr. struggle to bring anything beyond nostalgia to their characters. The story does them no favors, predictably moving from point to point, relying on jump scares rather than real tension, and eventually falling apart with a desperate twist that is more eye-rolling than shocking.

That leaves us with the kills – something all good slashers lean on to some degree. Here they barely leave an impression and even the most die-hard slasher fan will have a tough time being impressed. It’s just another blemish on what is a mostly lifeless and painfully by-the-numbers snooze that has a difficult time justifying its own existence. We get glimpses of what the movie could have been, but sadly it’s only glimpses. “I Know What You Did Last Summer” opens in theaters today.

VERDICT – 2 STARS