- Tony
Tony is a decent coming of age movie. It ditches the standard biopic format by not trying to follow the subject through their entire life, instead choosing to focus in on a single summer. It does, however, still feel like it follows a lot of typical tropes within the genre. Still, it's a well-made movie with a grainy filter that gives the movie warmth. Dominic Sessa is very talented, and the supporting cast of Emilia Jones and Antonio Banderas round out the movie well. The score was shockingly good. I think my biggest issue with this movie is that it just doesn't feel like I gained much insight into Anthony Bourdain. To be honest, it could have been about anybody, and I would have just as likely believed it was about Sessa's prior character in The Holdovers. For such a complex and dynamic person, I think this movie is just too simplistic. If you divorce it from the name Bourdain, I think you'll enjoy it a lot more as a teenage summer movie than an attempt to learn what made him tick.Tony - Best of the Best
Best of the Best starts out fairly promising. The first few dances have strong choreography with good production and flashy cinematography. The movie purposefully places typical tropes to force drama but showcases how the two main leads respond to these situations in healthy ways. It honestly feels like the movie will be refreshing with some decent humor and strong dances. However, as the movie continues past the halfway point, things start to change. The drama becomes more and more forced as the movie's runtime starts to feel plodding and overlong. Characters say or do things that feel completely out of character simply for the purpose of creating extra drama. None of the tension feels organic, and while I do respect that to a degree the movie wants us to think the drama is silly, it also feels like it falls into typical teen movie tropes in a way that the start of the movie seemed to be handling in a more refreshing way. This prevents the movie from really feeling as heartwarming as it should be, especially because it overstays its welcome. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan plays a similar character to that from Never Have I Ever, but she has good line delivery and is a strong actress. I felt Priyanka Kedia was not as good and felt considerably weaker playing against her. Finally and most noticeably, the dances in the second half start to decrease in quality. Not just in terms of choreography and production but also the way they are filmed. Where the first few dances had some cool camera tricks and cinematography, the last few feel fairly straightforward. The finale dance has some cinematography, but it also makes no sense. To me, that's indicative of how much effort was put into the first half of the movie, both in terms of writing and in terms of filmmaking, compared to the second half. I think they should have just made this movie 90 minutes long, and they would have ended up with a much better movie. I did enjoy the concept, and I think the first half is genuinely good. It's just a shame it can't live up to that potential.Best of the Best - Resident Evil
Typically video game adaptations strip out a lot of the gameplay sections and try to focus on the story and lore. Resident Evil takes the opposite approach. It removes any real connectivity to the characters or story of Resident Evil, really just using loose references to Umbrella and Raccoon City to instead focus on capturing the atmosphere of the games instead. It's a radical approach, and if you can divorce yourself from the need of characters like Leon Kennedy, it works shockingly well. Unlike Creggar's prior movies, there aren't a ton of unique twists to the story. It's a straightforward mission. However, Resident Evil retains Creggar's unique blend of comedy and horror. There is a surprising amount of laugh-out-loud comedy here, but it always remains balanced against the rest of the movie. Austin Abrams has fantastic comedic timing and line deliveries, and Creggar pokes fun at plenty of horror and game tropes throughout. At roughly 90 minutes of runtime, the movie feels incredibly efficient, propulsive and never boring, instantly jumping into the action and constantly changing up the set pieces to keep things fresh. The cinematography is sharp and distinctive from the very first set piece, utilizing colors, swiveling cameras, and first person "video game" perspectives to build atmosphere. The score is actually really well-designed. It fades in and out throughout, leaving plenty of quiet moments but knowing when to create a high-intensity rhythmic beat at others. There are effective jump scares and unique character designs throughout. While the movie may not reference characters or stories from Resident Evil, it is clear Creggar is deeply familiar with the franchise as there are plenty of nods to various game mechanics. These are moments that only people who play the games will recognize, but they illustrate how the silliness and campiness of some of the restrictions from the games actually translate into a movie. The movie's reputation will unfortunately be marred by people who wanted a version of the game stories, and as a big fan of the gaming franchise, I get where they are coming from. However, Creggar has done something much more interesting with this movie that still very much honors the games, and it is worth watching with an open mind. I will flag that I am still not sure how I feel about the ending of the movie, but that's a small nitpick. At the end of the day, this is just a very fun horror-comedy movie, easy to watch, adrenaline-generating, and most importantly, just a blast to watch on the large screen.Resident Evil - The Paper (2025) • Season 2
Season 2 of The Paper is a significant step up from the quality of season 1, though it still seems to be chasing The Office. This season feels a lot more comfortable with its setup and characters, and it allows them to react more organically to the situational humor. There are some genuine laughs in this season, especially in the first half. As the season shifts into its second half, I noticed that the show started focusing more on its relationship dramas. I think, in some ways, the show is trying to recreate some of the office romances from its predecessor to drive the show forward outside of its humor. The central relationship is actually not bad and has some good moments. However, the show also throws multiple other relationships at the wall, hoping some of them will stick. Outside of the main one, the rest are very underdeveloped and not super compelling. The problem is that as the show tries to desperately develop these relationships, it also takes its foot off the pedal in regards to the humor, leading to some clunky episodes in the second half. That led me to cool a bit on the season overall, but I think the first half showed real potential and a path forward for this show to become its own thing and a genuinely decent sitcom.The Paper (2025) • Season 2 - Coyote vs. Acme
I was expecting this movie to have more bite when it came to socioeconomic commentary surrounding corporations given how it was marketed and reviewed. To be fair, the big bad is clearly a corporation, but the villainous acts that they commit seem to be very specific to this world and ironically feel too cartoonish to be applicable to ours. Given that, I was initially not as engaged with the first hour of this movie. I loved the way the 2D animation was blended in with the real world with some really slick sequences, but the humor didn't land for me as it used to when I was a kid. But something happened around the hour mark. I suddenly started finding the movie really endearing. While it may not have been the satire I was thinking it was, it was somehow actually a genuine character study into the most random character: Wile E Coyote. It became a testament to perseverance, and I felt moved by various interactions between characters I never thought could hold any emotional sway. I think it takes a bit to get there, but it really turned the movie around for me. The most powerful part of the movie was realizing how much of it paralleled the behind the scenes drama around this movie. It may not have critiqued Warner Brothers and David Zaslav nearly as much as the trailer did, but it did showcase a core principle that allowed it to succeed. Try and fail. Try and fail. Until you succeed. This movie succeeded because it never gave up, and it getting a theatrical run is a miracle in of itself worth celebrating just like our plucky Coyote.Coyote vs. Acme - Witch Hat Atelier • Season 1
Witch Hat Atelier's first season starts out with a stunning episode filled with jaw-dropping animation. I don't think it maintains that animation quality, but it has some really fantastic sequences throughout, especially in its first half. The show works so well because it has such strong characters at its foundation. Coco is fantastic, strong with depth and personality but also flawed and constantly growing. The show has such a gentle and caring hand when it comes to showcasing how each character is motivated, never losing sight that so many of them are kids but also veering away from making them unlikeable. It also has a strong hook in terms of the overarching conflict between the Pointed Hat and Brimmed Hat witches, giving enough to constantly keep you invested. My biggest gripe with this show is that it feels a bit uneven, with a middle that sags a bit and an ending that feels incomplete. I get that there will be more seasons, but I wanted something that felt like it at least resolved something or felt like a conclusion to an arc. It instead feels like the story was just stopped abruptly and randomly. That aside, when Witch Hat Atelier is working, it works so well, completely sweeping me off my feet. Beyond just feeling like a great anime, it feels like a great fantasy story. I read a lot of fantasy, and a lot of people in that space constantly recommend Witch Hat Atelier as a manga. I finally understand why.Witch Hat Atelier • Season 1 - Furious • Season 1
Furious can be a hard watch, illustrating the systems and biases that allow human trafficking to go unchecked, especially when elites are involved. Lola Petticrew is phenomenal as Catherine and acts as the beating heart of the show. She carries an innocence to every action, even those actions are brimming with violence and fury. It's a raw, emotional, and unpredictable performance that feels wholly distinctive and her own. When the show starts to move a bit past her and her character, I feel it loses a good chunk of what makes it so good. Emmy Rossum is a bit more of a mixed bag as Alice. The character is a fantastic foil to Catherine, and I think it was very smart to showcase how two different women who both suffer at the hands of men approach their trauma and desire for retribution. She also clearly puts her whole into the character. I just think she slightly overacts at times and carries some weird tics that make her character feel a bit less authentic. The surprise star is Quincy Tyler Bernstine. I loved how she played that cold jaded character, and I think she has some of the best quotes from the entire show, quotes that are genuinely well written. While the story in season 1 is very strong, it does start to overstay its welcome a bit in the last few episodes. I think it could have cut an episode or two without losing much. The biggest offenders are two romance subplots that didn't feel as engaging even though I get how they acted as contrasts to everything else going on. The show also sets up a season two, and it has been renewed. I'm not very interested in seeing where that story goes, but I don't think it changes this season at all. Overall I think season 1 of Furious is strong and very much worth watching, especially for that stellar performance by Lola Petticrew.Furious • Season 1 - Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
At the end of the movie, Hannah Einbender's Kris explains that we are living in the golden age of gummy candy, which I interpreted to be a reference to how we are living in the golden age of horror, with so many different varieties that, like the cereal pack that Billy buys her, means that there is something for everyone. Camp Miasma is a gorgeous movie, a distinctive type of candy/cereal. The cinematography is stunning, filled with vibrant painted backdrops, pops of blood-soaked color, diopter shots, and crackling imagery. Even the way Little Death moves, mechanical and robotic, set to a fantastic soundtrack, feels intentional and purposeful. This movie is brimming with symbolism and subtext. The acting by the ever-talented Hannah Einbender and Gillian Anderson, is phenomenal. The problem is that I just didn't get it. Jane Schoenbrun is clearly an incredibly talented filmmaker, and I appreciate that they do not shy away from the Lynchian weirdness. In I Saw the TV Glow, I felt like even if the movie was not aimed at me, I could appreciate how much of the subtext and themes were present in all the little details, how everything was building towards a singular purpose. Here, I get the general vibe of how the movie is trying to explore the intersection of sexuality and queerness and slashers as well as the harmful depictions of trans and queer people in horror. There is also some meta-commentary on franchises and IP. However, I don't think I understand the clearer message in the same way as I did with I Saw the TV Glow. I am certainly not the intended audience, but the movie just feels a bit less accessible. The power of movies and stories are that they can help people learn and appreciate experiences of others even if they aren't the ones being depicted, and that's why I Saw the TV Glow worked for me better than this one. I think it's a shame because it's clearly so lovingly crafted. I wish the plot and characters and themes didn't get buried under all the layers of symbolism. However, like Kris and Billy mentioned, maybe this particular piece of candy and cereal is just not meant for me.Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma - Disclosure Day
Steven Spielberg built his name by crafting blockbusters that evoked awe and wonder, movie magic on a screen. Disclosure Day is a clear attempt to capture that lightning in a bottle again. It has a score that evokes classic blockbusters, stirring music to evoke empathy, and lots of lens flare. In my opinion, it is all an abject failure. The movie starts out promising enough. There is some spy action, intriguing sci-fi concepts, and a propulsive race to generate tension. None of those ideas live up to their promise. First, the movie isn't really sci-fi, with a lot of it feeling almost fantasy-esque with the wibbly wobbly explanations. People are labeled "Experiencers," whatever that means, and the core "weapon" ends up doing so many random things scene to scene that never seem to follow any sort of internal logic. Second, a lot of the tension deflates as the movie goes along. The villains have no bite, and the main characters seem to have an insane amount of plot and magic armor. Things just happen that defy any logic. The main characters seem to be able to do whatever they want at any given moment. Third, this movie doesn't really grapple with any big ideas. The central conceit of if disclosure is worth the pain it might cause is interesting enough, but it barely is discussed by any of the characters. The movie seems to resolve it through a side character in a phone call in like a minute, and it is such a simplified and superficial exploration of the topic. Finally, the movie so clearly wants to build pathos throughout. The final scene is so clearly meant to move the audience. The problem is that it is very much unearned. None of the characters have any real depth to them, outside of maybe Emily Blunt's character, and really that's only because everyone else is so surface level. Yet the movie wants you to feel the power of empathy as random characters have their emotional problems resolved in a sentence of dialogue. There even is a vastly under baked subplot of a war brewing in the background that never really gets the proper attention to act as a foil or framing for the rest of the movie. All of this put together makes for an extremely disappointing movie that doesn't really seem to do anything new or have much to say. The worst part is that the technical production of the movie is equally unremarkable. There are no shots or moments that impressed me. The acting is serviceable but no character will be remembered from this movie. It's really weak and might be the worst movie I've seen from Spielberg.Disclosure Day - The End of Oak Street
The End of Oak Street has some really compelling moments. It eschews typical Hollywood tropes, allowing kills and gore that seems to have been very sanitized from the latest iterations of the summer blockbuster. There are multiple moments throughout the movie that feel unexpected, creating real stakes and tension throughout the movie. These sequences are also just really well-made as to be expected from David Robert Mitchell. The dino design feels distinctive and not just a Jurassic Park clone, and the split diopter shots and tracking sequences add a flair of showmanship that gives the camerawork its own identity as well. Our audience was gasping in a way I haven't heard in blockbusters from the last decade. Unfortunately, the human element to this movie is severely weaker. There are weird forced conflicts and drama and a very out-of-place romance as well. None of these plot devices actually go anywhere and are often discarded, but yet they eat up screentime. I think the goal was to show how all of these conflicts pale in comparison to existential threats, but it honestly just makes portions of this movie boring where you are just waiting for the next action sequence. I don't need super strong character arcs in a movie like this, so I wish the movie just hadn't bothered with some of these storylines. Also, I hated the ending. Specifically, the last 5-10 minutes of the movie feel so unnecessary, and, in my opinion, it undoes a lot of what made the rest of the movie so compelling. The worst part is that this ending was completely not needed to resolve any open plot threads or anything. Had the movie just faded to black at an earlier point in time, it would have been way more satisfying. Overall, I still enjoyed the movie and think the dino sequences are worth it, but these two things did prevent it from being one of my favorites of the year.The End of Oak Street - House of the Dragon • Season 3
House of the Dragon season 3 fixed a lot of my complaints from season 2. Right off the bat, this season has impact. The status quo from the beginning of the season is radically altered by the end of the season. A big problem in season 2 is it felt like the show was treading water and deferring consequences and big moments for follow-up seasons. Even if you feel this season slumped a bit in the middle, I think it's clear that it still moves the needle forward overall. Throughout the season, characters scheme, form alliances, and backstab. This season is heavy on the politicking, even if it is bookended with some large battles. To me, that's the best parts of A Song of Ice and Fire, but I can see how some people find the dialogue-heavy sections dry. The crucial element in all of this is that the drama never feels forced. Characters act exactly how you would expect for their arcs, and their interpersonal conflicts feel genuine instead of just because the plot demands it. I think Emma D'Arcy does a fantastic job at emulating this with Rhaenyra. I think it would have been easy for the show to mess up her character this season, but instead, it is deliberate and careful and lets strong acting drive showcasing the character's motivations to the viewer. I think that arc across all 8 episodes is really well executed but also a clear contrast to how season 2 would handle its characters and conflicts. I do think the Harrenhal storyline remains my least favorite, but thankfully it has significantly less screentime this season. This season does such a good job demonstrating the themes of the book series, illustrating how the whims of a few people drag everyone down. I really like the contrast between what happens with the commonfolk versus the elites. All of this said, the show is also equally effective with its big splashy battles and epic moments as well, with plenty of surprises. I can see how not everyone loved the scheming within this season like I did, but everything else feels like a return to form after a very middling second season. I'm very excited to see how the bring The Dance to a close.House of the Dragon • Season 3 - Off Campus • Season 1
I admit that I am not the target audience for this type of show, but Off Campus has some surprisingly effective emotional moments. Episode 7 in particular had a lot of heft to it and was made really well. A lot of that is driven by the depth behind the love interest, Garrett Graham. I feel like a lot of similar shows in this genre veer more into wish fulfillment and treat their male leads less like human characters and more like trophies. Garrett is actually the most interesting character on the show with some solid character arcs related to his relationship with his father. The other aspect of the show that surprised me was how thoughtful it was in showcasing how its characters supported each other in small moments. There was a scene where the coach told Garrett that he wouldn't yell if the goal was for Garrett to listen to him. It's a subtle and small line, but I was impressed. I feel like often these moments are played off in unhealthy ways for the sake of drama, or they try so hard to sound correct that it can feel like the writers speaking inorganically through their characters. These moments feel very organic and heartwarming in Off Campus, and there are lots of them, even with characters who have very minor roles. That said, the show struggles when it isn't having these character moments or subtle interactions. The connective tissue between these scenes tends to be a lot of treading water, montages, lots of sex that sometimes ends up feeling gratuitous, and forced drama between some of the characters. Mika Abdalla is super charming, and I get that she seems to be a fan favorite, but I found her character's storyline to be fairly superficial and uninteresting. There is also some really forced love triangle shenanigans. This can make the show feel padded out and at times a drag despite it clearly being able to deliver some excellent moments. It needed some ruthless editing in my opinion. Overall, I think its best moments are really good, but I think they aren't enough to justify the rest of the show. I wish every episode was of the same quality as episode 7, but unfortunately, they are not.Off Campus • Season 1 - Interview With The Vampire • The Vampire Lestat
The Vampire Lestat continues where Interview with the Vampire season 2 left off, despite the rebrand. It still maintains that extremely unique dialogue that is a distinctive cocktail of literary and campy. The biggest difference is that the two costars are kept apart for most of the season, and their stories are largely very individual stories that feel too isolating. The season also feels a lot less structured and purposeful. It lacks the framing of the prior two seasons that helped drive each episode forward. The best part of the season is easily the sixth episode when the show finally feels willing to step back into what made it so successful in the first place. I do enjoy seeing some of Lestat's backstory, and the show is not afraid to jump into sheer absurdity at multiple points. However, I just felt like I was watching a story run in circles, and the big emotional climaxes are not exactly built upon these detours either. The season ends on a cliffhanger that sets up a future season, but I am not sure how much gas is left in this tank. The show has such a unique style and tone, but there is only so much navel gazing this viewer can take before starting to lose interest.Interview With The Vampire • The Vampire Lestat - Spider-Man: Brand New Day
I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of the MCU (even in its heyday), and I could care less about Doomsday or Secret Wars. Often, it feels like the movies are very formulaic and focused on setting up the next movie with some universe-ending threat. Brand New Day is actually a refreshing bucking of that trend, and it promises a very promising way forward. Don't get me wrong, it does suffer from some of those issues. There are at least 2 very unnecessary shared universe cameos that could have easily been cut without losing anything. It also still does kick certain arcs down the road for a future movie. However, it also ignores epic stakes for instead a much more character-driven and personal story at its heart. The internal conflict is what made the best Spidey movies so successful, not multiversal shenanigans. This is a very street level, and all the better for it Tom Holland and Zendaya ground that story with strong acting that creeps up on you. There aren't emotional haymakers here, just a growing sense of pain. Director Destin Daniel Creston pulls from his work in Short Term 12 to make these quiet moments so successful. He is also a phenomenal action choreographer, and the final act has some excellent action sequences. The real star of the movie though is Sadie Sink. She builds on her excellent acting in Stranger Things to give her character an arc that acts as a strong foil to Spidey. That humanity and talent is what often feels is missing from the MCU. Seeing her talent here as well as recent casting news has me genuinely excited for the first time for the next generation of MCU movies because even if they don't learn about stripping away the need for each of these movies to carry around the carcass of a shared universe, at least they will have a very strong cast of actors taking over the mantle.Spider-Man: Brand New Day - Masters of the Universe
Masters of the Universe often feels like it is imitating a Marvel movie more than really trying to build its own identity. At various times, I almost felt like I was watching Thor or Guardians of the Galaxy, especially the former. There is a constant need to include quips and humor that often feels listless and flat. Fight scenes have lots of quick edits, and the plot is incredibly generic. The biggest sin though is that the movie is over 2 hours long, and considering how barebones the plot is, it really feels that length. It slogs at multiple times and has a lot of unnecessary downtime in between the larger action sequences. I honestly think the whole first section on Earth could have been easily cut as its only purpose is some awkward humor. Also, the movie has a lot of sexual innuendos that kind of feel out of place. That said, there are positives. I enjoyed Nicholas Galitzine as the goofy Adam while also having the physicality of He-Man. The movie is not afraid to embrace its Saturday morning roots with the zany characters. Even though it reveals the shoddy CGI, the bright background colors are a nice contrast to how drab a lot of blockbusters look. I also think there are moments in the final act where the show goes from MCU humor to more wacky stuff. I wish the movie had leaned more into this style of humor instead of trying to copy Marvel so much because it would have really given it its own identity. Oh, Jared Leto hams it up as Skeletor. Screw Jared Leto.Masters of the Universe
