We’ve all been there; we can watch countless humans die in films without batting an eye, but the moment a dog dies, the tears start streaming. Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s The Friend offers a fresh take on the classic dog movie, where instead of a human grappling with the death of a dog, we see a dog facing the loss of his human.
Jason Statham punches his timecard in A Working Man
In his latest action thriller, A Working Man, Jason Statham portrays Levon Cade, an ex-Royal Marines commando who leads a relatively unassuming life as a construction foreman in Illinois.
Death of a Unicorn doesn’t know what the Hell it is, but you won’t be bored
Death of a Unicorn (2025 | USA | 104 minutes | Alex Scharfman) Make no mistake: Like the mythical beast name-dropped in …
Black Bag is a wickedly fun spy thriller that respects your time by not wasting any of it
Black Bag is a sleek, sophisticated, and sexy thriller with some exceptional filmmaking from Soderbergh. At 93 minutes, not a moment is wasted. Once the plot is established, momentum propels the film like a brisk clip. This is not an action film, though. Soderbergh and Koepp are interested in the letting the story unfold while allowing us into the minds of the exceptionally cerebral players. Why does each character do what they do? Are they being manipulated? Or are they doing the manipulating? Is remaining loyal to your country and your partner mutually exclusive?
In Novocaine Jack Quaid is comfortably numb
Dan Berk and Robert Olsen subvert the unlikely hero trope in Novocaine, where everyman Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) leverages his rare condition—an inability to feel pain—to rescue the girl of his dreams.
Naomi Ackie and 17 (or 18) Robert Pattinsons propel Bong Joon Ho’s latest Mickey 17
Pity poor Mickey Barnes. Life is pretty terrible for most people in a dystopia, of course, but for Mickey, it’s particularly awful because he just cannot stay dead when he dies. As an “expendable,” he signed up to a life of many deaths and as many resurrections (reprintings).
Slamdance 2025: Quick Reviews
While the in-person festival has come to a close, the virtual Slamdance Film festival is in full swing. Nearly every film available at the theaters in LA are now available for streaming for a killer price. I’ll have more pocket reviews coming up!
Oscar Forecast: Anonymous Ballots
We all made our predictions and picks for the Oscars, but every year more and more voters seem eager to spill the tea and share their votes with whoever will listen. This year, I rounded up as many as I could find to see what they reveal about the state of the race.
Roundtable: Diving into the Oscar Pool with who will and should win on Sunday
It’s that time again! We all picked our favorites at the end of the year; the guilds have spoken; critics groups have doled out their laurels; and now, two months into 2025 it’s time for the Academy to put a bow on the movies of 2024 with the Oscars. In advance of Sunday’s telecast – hosted by Conan O’Brien – airing on ABC at 4 pm (PDT) we gathered round the old roundtable to make our predictions on how the awards will (and should) go when all’s said and done in almost all of the categories.
Slamdance Virtual Film Fest ’25 kicked off this week with a boatload of offerings
In its 31st year, Slamdance may not quite have the name recognition as Sundance, but it’s certainly held its own in a time when everyone is less eager to head out to the theater.