Director: Joachim Trier
Starring: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard & Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas 
Rated: R (language & brief nudity)
Runtime: 2 hours & 13 minutes

​In this year’s Oscar race, you will notice that there are a lot of international films getting a lot of attention. “The Secret Agent” from Brazil, “It Was Just An Accident” from France, “Sirat” from Spain and “No Other Choice” from South Korea have been nominated in award show categories that are not just limited to the Foreign Language Film category. There are many movie lovers who do not give foreign-language films a chance because they have to read subtitles to understand what is going on. This is the year in cinema to start going out of your comfort zone if this applies to you. If you are going to give foreign language films a chance, I suggest you start with Norway’s “Sentimental Value.”  

“Sentimental Value” is directed by Joachim Trier, who co-wrote it with Eskil Vogt. The story follows two daughters, Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), as they navigate a difficult and complex relationship with their father, film director Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgard, who just won the Golden Globe for his performance). When Nora and Agnes were little, their parents divorced, and Gustav left his wife to raise the two girls while he pursued his career as a film director. Upon the death of their mother, Sissel, Gustav returns to Norway and offers Nora a role in his new film. Nora is an actress with modest success, but she turns him down without even reading the script. She does not want any involvement with him at all. When she passes, Gustav offers the role to American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning). The daughters are rattled to see how much better he treats Rachel than he treats them.  

Trier and Vogt’s script is brilliant. This is such a brutally honest look at how two people can be raised by the same person, have the same feelings towards them, but can turn out way different. Agnes is a historian with a husband and child, and she seems to be able to hold it together when it comes to their dad. On the other hand, Nora is an actress who suffers from severe stage fright, is having an affair with a married man and spirals very easily with any adversity. The script would be fantastic even if we stopped there, but the film goes even deeper. We get to see how Gustav loves his daughters, but in a way most of us are not accustomed to. He has his own baggage, and that carried over into the lives of his children for better or for worse. It really teaches us that when we have parents who are not the best, we can choose to be better and do better, or we can let it break us for the rest of our lives. While it could be easy for the film to judge Gustav, it simply lays everything out as it is and lets us draw our own conclusions. There are no black-and-white areas in life. It is all grey. 

Besides the amazing script, this film is full of performances destined for Academy Award nominations. Reinsve, who previously worked with Trier in 2021’s “The Worst Person in the World,” plays Nora to perfection. She is such an emotionally complex character and could have been played very one-note by an actress of lesser caliber. Reinsve delivers and truly makes us feel connected to all of those complicated emotions Nora is going through. Lilleaas is equally as good. The line she has to play is a difficult one. Agnes is more accepting of Gustav, but not fully. She wants to keep the peace but also wants people to be held accountable. It was truly a difficult role to hit all of those notes, and she does it flawlessly. Skarsgard truly plays this complex father magnificently. He is able to balance being charming, mysterious and infuriating at the same time. Fanning’s portrayal of American actress Rachel Kemp is also refreshing. Rachel is truly an artist who wants the film to be made right, even if it doesn’t include her. That is truly something that is probably rare for Hollywood, where people most likely take what they can get. 

My final movie selection for 2025 from the highest-ranked films on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time that I hadn’t previously seen was 1959’s “Some Like It Hot,” from one of my favorite directors, Billy Wilder.

Wilder is one of the greatest directors in film history, but everything I’d seen from his filmography before this had been dark dramas like “Double Indemnity,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Ace in the Hole” and “The Lost Weekend,” with the first three being among my all-time favorite films.

“Some Like It Hot” is quite a bit different than those films in that it’s a comedy, but not only that, it’s quite slapstick too, with its cross-dressing humor and all, some of which I was surprised the film got away with in the 1950s.

“Some Like It Hot” stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon as musicians in Prohibition-era Chicago who make a living playing jazz in the city’s speakeasies. When they witness a mob massacre and escape the mobsters, they are forced to dress like women and join an all-girl traveling band to Miami. Curtis’s Joe becomes Josephine and Lemmon’s Jerry becomes Daphne, because he didn’t quite like the way Geraldine sounded.   

The two sort of fight over Marilyn Monroe’s singer/ukulele player Sugar Kane, though they must play it cool because they can’t give up their true identities. This leads Curtis to take another fake identity as a British oil magnate, whose accent makes me wonder whether Michael Caine got his naturally or just by mimicking this character.  

Meanwhile, Lemmon’s Daphne gets stuck with a genuine rich guy in Joe E. Brown’s Osgood Fielding III. A lot of the film’s best humor comes from this oddball relationship.

Surprisingly, “Some Like It Hot” didn’t seem as outdated in 2025 as one might expect, with much of its plot and humor of said plot coming from two men being forced to cross-dress. The film contains one of the absolute greatest final lines of dialogue in cinematic history. However, if you’re like me and waited this long to watch the movie, you’ve probably known it for years before actually seeing it.

All in all, I think I appreciate Wilder’s dramas a bit more than I did “Some Like It Hot,” which isn’t all that surprising to me, as someone whose list of favorite films ever would feature more dramatic films heavily over comedic ones.

Of the 12 films featured on the AFI list that I saw for the first time in 2025, I think the best overall is probably Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List,” and my personal favorite of the 12 was likely Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night.”

When I started watching the third installment of the ‘Knives Out’ movie series, “Wake Up Dead Man,” I was expecting the typical twists and turns of a unique mystery, with the humor and pridefulness of the beloved and brilliant detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) leading the way.

What I got instead was a lesson in faith.  

As a cradle Catholic, I’ll admit that when I watch secular media trying to portray something related to Catholicism, I get a bit nitpicky. It drives my husband nuts.

But honestly, consult any Catholic ahead of a big blockbuster movie or TV show, and they’ll be able to clarify things like how it’s called a Mass, not a service, and no one ever says “priest-in-training”; they are seminarians. It might seem small, but it irks me because it’s so easy to hire a consultant, and it’s clear to viewers who know the subject whether or not you genuinely care about portraying something accurately.

It's why I have so much respect and admiration for director and writer Rian Johnson for reaching out to some experts for “Wake Up Dead Man.” According to an early December article in OSV News, a Catholic wire service, Johnson, who was raised Christian but is no longer in a faith, realized while writing his script that something wasn’t right. He reached out to his Catholic aunt and uncle, who connected him with Father Scott Bailey, pastor at Risen Christ Catholic Parish in Denver, who ultimately became the film's faith consultant.

This move clearly changed everything. From the correct priestly vestments to portraying what priestly ministry should be, this movie checked off most of the Catholic boxes.

Set in Upstate New York, the film opens with a young priest, Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), punching a deacon. While even the bishop admitted the deacon needed a sock in the jaw, Father Jud is reassigned as assistant pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, aptly named, of course, since Father Jud will need it between navigating the self-righteous Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) and a cast of parishioners that our bishop in Little Rock, Ark., would characterize as “high-maintenance sheep” in the flock.

The mystery angle is that somehow Msgr. Wicks winds up dead in a side closet off the altar during Good Friday service (the only celebration actually called a “service”). But, unlike the other ‘Knives Out’ movies, this one is not about Blanc’s brilliance, and he’s not the star.

It focuses instead on Father Jud, good versus evil and the way holy zeal can be perverted into something dark when the light is snuffed out by pride, vengeance and prejudice. It’s truly a movie about mercy.

O’Connor gives one of my favorite and most accurate portrayals of a young priest I've ever seen on screen. For seven and a half years, I was the associate editor of my diocese’s (essentially the main office for Catholic parishes within a state where the bishop resides) newspaper, and during that time, I had the great pleasure of getting to know the over 100 priests in our state. And the first thing I learned was that priests are not perfect. They are truly people, flawed individuals with a vocation in life to be “in persona Christi” (Latin for, “in the person of Christ”).

In Father Jud, I saw many characteristics of the young priests I knew who grew up under the guidance of Pope Francis and his call to have the “smell of the sheep,” ministering on the margins. There is no longer room in the world for priests on pedestals anymore. Respect must be given, not demanded, and it’s so easy to respect priests who are like Father Jud.

A former boxer-turned-priest, the character has a strong desire to meet the people he shepherds in their brokenness. It’s a challenging task against the old guard of Msgr. Wicks. If I ever met a pastor who embodied Msgr. Wicks, I’d run far away, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t see some of his same arrogance, thirst for power and resistance to change in some priests I met. I absolutely did, in smaller, less outrageous doses.

Our country is wrapped up in an “us versus them” mentality, something some religious leaders, mostly evangelicals, but even some Catholic priests, are latching onto. It’s a warrior mentality, but Jesus didn’t come to us as a warrior. He came to us as a baby, a sacrificial lamb that transformed the world with his love and mercy.

The imperfect character of Father Jud is well aware that the Church’s stance on being “in” the world, not “of” the world, means being Christ’s light in the darkness, not shielding the light for only a few. It’s clearly a commentary on the direction we’re heading as a society, and which school of thought we should follow. We are ultimately all “dead men” needing to wake up. 

Amid all the chaos, Father Jud grows in beautiful ways throughout the script. While he gets caught up in clearing his name as a killer in Blanc’s quest to untangle the web, there’s a poignant moment that stops him, pushing him right back to his priestly mission.

At Blanc’s encouragement, Father Jud is trying desperately to find out a key piece of information from a construction company’s secretary named Louise (Bridget Everett). He’s quickly getting annoyed, rushing her babbling and even gives the go-ahead for Blanc to smash a statue of Jesus in his desire to find the next clue.

But everything changes when she asks him to pray for her. The camera zooms in on O’Connor’s face, and the shift in his expression completely pierced my heart. He stops, asks what’s wrong and learns her mother is in hospice care. He quietly walks into the other room, shuts the door and leaves a stunned Blanc to tend to this woman’s hurt.

He calls it his “road to Damascus” moment, hearkening to the spiritual awakening experienced by the Apostle Paul (formerly Saul). And from then on, Father Jud is firm on his footing in Christ and does his best to protect his parishioners, even to his own detriment.

At the movie’s end, Blanc will experience his own “road to Damascus” moment. Blanc, as he puts it, kneels at the altar of the rational and isn’t about to convert, but he can’t help but be changed and inspired by Father Jud. When the two first meet, Blanc explains his thoughts on religion, and Father Jud doesn’t argue with him, but rather emphasizes how the stories of faith can transform what we believe and how we live. Faith without action is dead, and Father Jud spends the whole movie living out that truth. It demonstrates how believers can transform lives by embodying the virtues of their faith, even among the most hardened non-believers.

It was beautiful to see such a positive, real example of a priest in a non-Christian-based movie. I hope that anyone watching this movie, whether they’re a believer or not, gets inspired by Father Jud’s spirituality because it’s in the small moments of mercy that we can change the world.

10. Marty Supreme  
I have to imagine it was much easier to be as cocky as the titular character is in 1952, especially when feeling like you're at the center of a particular universe. That Timothy Chalamet seemingly possesses the same level of confidence as his on-screen counterpart in 2025 - when the internet can make you feel like little more than another pebble on the beach in less than an instant - is what sells us on the promise of Marty Mauser's skill and charisma even as he continually digs himself out of holes only to step in bigger piles of shit on his way up. In true Safdie fashion, Marty's world is a stage - the soundtrack and score choices being deployed at the most magnificent of times is *chef's kiss* - where both ours and the character's expectations are rarely met as anticipated; disappointedly so often only for the characters while we, the audience, become enraptured in this tornado of intense fear, anxiety and tension. The pattern can become slightly predictable, and the pacing can't always sustain the bloated runtime. Still, much like the titular character himself, it is the ambition that endears us despite any obvious faults. The magnetism, the aura and the personality exuded in both the central performance and the construction of the film take “Marty Supreme” to the extreme. Now playing in theaters.

9. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
It was only a matter of time before Rian Johnson used the church and religion as a means for one of his ‘Knives Out’ vehicles and as someone who can both very much relate to  Benoit Blanc's position in this film (love the hair btw) while keeping my balances in check enough to understand and more critically - empathize with - Josh O'Connor's Father Jud, “Wake Up Dead Man” is everything one might hope for from Johnson's exploration of faith while not necessarily meeting the expectations he has set for us with his first two whodunits (albeit by a very small margin). As a result, ‘Kniv3s Out’ feels like an expertly concocted film where the genre serves the themes but the subject matter doesn't always allow the murder mystery aspects to excel; serving them well but not necessarily surpassing what Johnson has done in the past even as one can feel the writer/director pushing himself, invoking the classics in hopes they lead him to fresh deviations on these types of stories. Now streaming on Netflix.

8. Materialists
The power of love. It’s a curious thing, yeah? I think to understand a person’s reaction to Celine Song’s “Materialists,” one has to state their opinion on and experiences with love, as the film itself, presented as something of a Woody Allen-esque dramedy analyzing and deconstructing the modernity of the ever-mystifying subject, isn’t necessarily open for interpretation but does seemingly welcome a conversation. Whether dominated by optimism or pessimism, one’s outlook on love - or at least their most recent romantic experiences - will undoubtedly shade their opinion of what Song is attempting to do with her sophomore feature. Personally, I’m lucky enough to say that love did walk into my life one day, and that it’s been relatively easy ever since. Maybe we were too young and naive to realize the business aspect of marriage or to care about whether we were statistically a good match for one another, but it’s worked because love has been on the table from moment one. My personal experiences don’t necessarily align with Song’s points as they play out in the movie, but our ideas are similar enough for me to support the thesis comfortably. On the contrary, it’s not hard to see why someone with different experiences might come to the end of “Materialists” with a more frustrated, less tidy retort. Now available on physical media and streaming on HBO Max.

7. Weapons
The weight the image of these children running out of their houses in the middle of the night carries while their parents lay asleep, oblivious to what is happening outside their rooms is so stressful. It will go down as a classic. Josh Brolin's character sleeping in his missing son's bed night after night clutching the sheets is heartbreaking and almost every moment we get with the tender-natured Alex during what is essentially an "explanation montage" is so cold and psychologically damaging that the film becomes even more disturbing than initially expected. And sure, Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong and Austin Abrams - all good - are the stars here but it is Cary Christopher delivering one hell of a child performance with Amy Madigan absolutely nailing what writer/director Zach Cregger so clearly had in his mind for a character that was nowhere to be found in the marketing that balances the film's organic humor and willful dread, elevating it to something more; something hauntingly sublime. I'm also glad Cregger finally got to utilize the potato peeler because you just know he's been sitting on that idea/image for a long ass time. Now available on physical media and streaming on HBO Max.

6. F1: The Movie
My sense is present day criticism might be too quick to dismiss “F1: The Movie” as too formulaic (pun intended) for its own good, but I cannot help but think the formula will work in favor of the film eventually. Despite the predictability, despite audiences knowing where this road will take them as they pass all the recognizable milestones of the genre along the way, none of it means it’s *not* what people want to see. Audiences are aware of how archetypal these characters are, but Brad Pitt and co. offer enough acuity to alleviate the clichés while easily being the best summer blockbuster-esque theater experience of the year. It checks all the boxes, sure, but it sustains itself and successfully uses said formula to deliver a familiar yet satisfying experience in the present thanks to its handsome mounting and carving out of enough distinguishing facets in its otherwise boilerplate set of story and character beats that will inevitably serve as comfort when revisited down the road. Now available on physical media and streaming on Apple TV.

5. Bring Her Back
The hook may not be as catchy as the one in “Talk to Me,” but the textures around many of the same themes resonate more deeply. As a parent I can’t imagine losing one of my children and would admittedly do whatever I could to save their life. I don't know that I could ever cop to the supernatural enough to try anything remotely close to what is happening in “Bring Her Back,” but especially doing so at the cost of robbing others of what was taken from me is incomprehensible. Each of the children in this film have stories so heartbreaking and tragic, and it's how the Philippou brothers match the barbarity of the violence depicted with the depth and authenticity of the characterizations and their relationships with one another that make their films not necessarily scary, but legitimately disturbing. I was gasping for air by the third act. Now available on physical media and streaming on HBO Max. 

4. The Secret Agent
A fascinating array of ideas, characters and circumstances set against the final years of the Brazilian military dictatorship, Wagner Moura turns in a S-T-A-R making performance as a former professor caught in the political turmoil who is attempting to flee the deceitful, authoritarian regime with his son who has been in the care of his in-laws since the death of their daughter. What separates writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s genre exploration/history lesson is that the film goes beyond this plain synopsis in so many ways. After a single viewing there's no way to fully comprehend everything the film itself is attempting to do much less conceive a thorough reaction, but what is clear and what does cut through the mishmash of tones, the assortment of refugees and their individual experiences, as well as the love of cinema that each of these equally bewitching facets possesses is the fact there's something major at play here. Now playing in limited release. 

3. Sinners
A movie of contrasts seemingly intended to explore the differences and halves that make us whole in all the fascinating ways our inspirations and innovations contrive; how the old informs the new and how the past is used by those in power to construct the future. Ryan Coogler's “Sinners” feasts on the ideas of how time is the greatest ghost that doesn’t stop haunting us until the peace death brings and how for some, even that remains elusive. This type of deconstruction and exploration ultimately eliciting the kind of genuine magic only the movies can conjure in that no matter the vast difference of moral codes that sit in a theater, when you view the world from that cinema seat the lines between who to root for and who to vilify become one. I also just love that the movie is largely about and emphasizes the power of music and how it can change your life. Now available on physical media and streaming on HBO Max. 

2. Train Dreams  
A real wow of a film. Every line William H. Macy mutters is poetry. Every line on Joel Edgerton's face tells a story. Every line made by every tree trunk that points toward the sky is a life - same as ours - similar in builds with different shades based on how the light hits them. When the trees fall or are brought down some land with a crash that causes pain in those closest while others might not have otherwise made a sound given the lack of life or love surrounding them. That is life, after all. A line drawn from birth to death: deviations, devastations, difficulties, and all. Easily the film I was moved most by this year. Now streaming on Netflix.

1. One Battle After Another
Based loosely on Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, is a movie all about how power works; about how much of civilization is built on the whims and desires of power-hungry men who both seek to shape the world in accordance with their own concepts of truth as well as eradicate any reminders of their own shame. This is true for characters on both sides of history in Paul Thomas Anderson’s film and the writer/director, despite making it clear who he believes are the good guys and who are the villains, does not let any one character off the hook. “One Battle After Another” could just as easily be seen as a cynical takedown of those in power as it can a hopeful rallying cry for change in a world gone awry but whatever lens one chooses to view it through, there’s no denying the big, broad, bombastic and most importantly - bizarrely beguiling - entertainment value Anderson is able to deliver alongside his countless ideas. Now streaming on HBO Max.

Director: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi & Christoph Waltz
Rated: R (bloody violence & grisly images)
Runtime: 2 hours & 29 minutes

​One thing about the movie industry that can be annoying is the overreliance on reboots, sequels, retreads and telling the same stories repeatedly with little to no imagination. Most of these films miss the mark entirely by forgetting what made audiences fall in love with these stories from the beginning. However, sometimes, the right director becoming attached to one of these stories sparks genuine excitement. This is how I felt when I first heard that acclaimed Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro was bringing his version of “Frankenstein” to Netflix. del Toro is truly a visionary filmmaker who has proven to us all that he can transport us into worlds that feel like experiences we have never had before. “The Shape of Water,” “Pinocchio” and “Pan’s Labryinth” are proof that del Toro has clear visions for the stories he tells and can execute his vision in a way that truly dazzles audiences everywhere. The question remains: was del Toro able to bring us into his own world of “Frankenstein,” or did he miss the mark?  

Based on the 1818 novel by Mary Shelley, “Frankenstein” tells the story of Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Issac), an egotistical, arrogant scientist who has become obsessed with death and immortality. The loss of his mother, whom he was very close to, sparks this interest. Frankenstein catches the eye of arms merchant Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), who decides to fund his project, hoping for a favor one day in return. Victor’s brother, William (Felix Kammerer), and his fiancée, Elizabeth (Mia Goth), get entangled in the chaos when Frankenstein successfully creates his Creature (Jacob Elordi). The movie really explores many interesting questions: What is life? Is life merely existing or having purpose? Is life anything if being forced to spend it alone? Does immortality have any value if some aspects of life are missing? The film makes us ponder what life truly is. 

This movie really highlights just how underrate Isaac has been throughout his career. He does have one Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film for “Show Me A Hero,” but it is criminal that he has not received an Oscar nomination. I feel he was robbed of one for Best Supporting Actor for “Ex Machina” back in 2014. Isaac also delivered a spectacular performance in “Inside Llewyn Davis” that deserved a nod. In “Frankenstein,” Isaac gives a standout performance as a man who has dealt with the devastating loss of his mother, his father's rejection and being considered the black sheep compared to his brother. He has fueled this into a passion to achieve immortality and is slowly going mad trying to achieve the greatness he feels he was destined for but never appreciated. Isaac shows us the hopefulness, the devastation, the excitement, the disappointment and the longing of this man to matter in a world that never made him feel wanted. It is in these moments that Isaac truly makes us see Victor Frankenstein’s humanity. It is a very crowded year for the Best Actor race, but I would love to see Isaac sneak in.  
 
Someone a little more likely to be nominated is Elordi for his portrayal of The Creature. This performance reminds me of Emma Stone’s in “Poor Things,” if it were much more reserved. Like Stone’s Bella, The Creature is learning all about this new world. While it may appear to those around him that he does not understand the world because he can only use the word “Victor,” the Creature gains lots of knowledge about the world but cannot voice it with the proper communication, which frustrates his Creator, Frankenstein. Elordi’s performance is genuinely engaging, making us all feel the Creature’s curiosity about this new world as well as the devastation, pain, cruelty and rejection he feels for not being able to conform to it promptly.  

del Toro truly directed outstanding performances from these two leads ... but was he successful in creating a new world for us like the ones in the past? It is an unequivocal yes. The production design is stunning with Gothic towers and exquisite Victorian structures that truly transport us into the 1800s. The cinematography is dazzling and the lighting is some of the best I have seen in years. Sometimes, when films tell stories that take place before electricity, the lighting in the rooms can be very dark and difficult to see. They want to create authenticity but don’t do it successfully. The lighting team on this film managed to make lightning strike at the most opportune times, find the right camera angle to enhance the scenes and truly make us feel we were not missing out on anything. The visual effects are also top-tier , and this film should be a major Oscar contender for technical achievements.  
 
The only issue I really had with the film was an attempt at redemption for one of the main characters that fell a little flat. I do not feel the script had truly worked in enough support for the redemption to appear genuine. It felt out of left field and makes us realize that sometimes, there does not have to be redemption for a character. They make their choices, whether good or bad, and must face their fate.  
del Toro’s “Frankenstein” is a visually stunning film that delivers two standout performances and continues del Toro’s streak of successfully transporting us into new and authentic worlds we feel we have never seen before. That is truly the mark of an excellent filmmaker, and why I will always be excited to see his name attached to any work of art in the future. 

Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig, Josh O'Connor & Glenn Close
Rating: PG-13 (violent content, bloody images, language, some crude sexual material & smoking)
Runtime: 2 hours & 24 minutes

 
It was only a matter of time before Rian Johnson used the church and religion as a means for one of his ‘Knives Out’ vehicles and as someone who can both very much relate to Mr. Benoit Blanc's position in this film (love the hair btw) while keeping my balances in check enough to understand and more critically - empathize with - Josh O'Connor's Father Jud, “Wake Up Dead Man” is everything one might hope for from Johnson's exploration of faith while not necessarily meeting the expectations he has set for us with his first two whodunits (albeit by a very small margin). As a result, ‘Kniv3s Out’ feels like an expertly concocted film where the genre serves the themes but the subject matter doesn't always allow the murder mystery aspects to excel; serving them well but not necessarily surpassing what Johnson has done in the past even as one can feel the writer/director pushing himself, invoking the classics in hopes they lead him to fresh deviations on these types of stories.  
​
Johnson eloquently crafts what feels like his own ongoing internal monologue that goes back and forth between the need to solve the existence of God logically and whether feeling the essence of God’s teachings in one's soul is the real point. How Johnson graphs this onto this radical priest (closing out a banner year for Josh Brolin) and his small but loyal congregation, who each personify a type of internet personality, doesn't make it instantly feel as if something's not clicking but the turning of the knife (pun intended) becomes more apparent when our "suspects" are brought to the forefront. Kerry Washington is the networker, Daryl McCormack is the influencer, Andrew Scott is the conspiracy theorist, and Jeremy Renner embodies the lurker – watching but rarely interacting. Then there is Cailee Spaeny, who barely registers but implies to be that specific kind of social media user who posts solely for the likes, comments and validation these signs of approval bring with them. Glenn Close gaslights the hell out of people to the point I’d hate to see what she might do on message boards, while Thomas Haden Church portrays her husband, an example of toxic codependency at its best – they’re sharing one Facebook account for sure. Close nearly breaks from these molds, her Martha Delacroix carrying forth the sole purpose of keeping the corrupting evil out of wicked hands. Much like profiles on a webpage, though, these individuals are easily dismissed – working more for Johnson’s objectives than developing individual personalities. 

It's not that the mystery isn't as well-crafted as Johnson's have been previously or that it falters largely because it rests on the capable shoulders of Craig’s Blanc and O’Connor’s eager priest. Instead, it is the back and forth between these two, that aforementioned interior monologue of Johnson’s, that keeps “Wake Up Dead Man” as consistently engaging despite the core mystery not necessarily roping the audience in based purely on its own merits. An asshole clergyman, delusional patrons, and a practical but seemingly overwhelmed law enforcement official in Mila Kunis make for enough of a foundation, while it is Johnson’s immediate positioning of the church in a defensive position against a world enraptured by its “modernity” that piques the interest in those of the more intellectual variety. We understand this isn’t the mentality of everyone in the church, namely Fr. Jud and Jeffrey Wright’s Bishop Langstrom, who preach more of an open-mindedness to those the church feels threatened by, primarily because they misunderstand them. Johnson makes clear the levels of opposition early, the conflicting views of those working within the walls of the church and the voice of those on the outside, at odds with what is generally accepted by those who attend mass with Mons. Jefferson Wicks (Brolin). 

What Blanc refers to as his big “checkmate” moment doesn’t come in the climactic moments of the film where he lays out the plot and reveals the guilty – no, Johnson has a way to upend that trope this time around as well that *does* work in tandem with the faith-filled themes – but Blanc’s big speech comes on the heels of his big entrance (at the 40-minute marker, no less) where Johnson allows the self-proclaimed “proud heretic” to spill every issue and expose every empty promise the church holds as a means to justify untold acts of violence and those that are even more shameful as perpetrated by individuals it has entrusted with authority. It’s a delicious bit of writing for anyone who has ever felt persecuted, wronged or been made uncomfortable by the way religion has shaped the stories of Jesus to fit its own wants, needs and whims. And to be frank, it is precisely what one expects from a liberal Hollywood screenwriter, but what is unexpected is the grace with which Jud replies, unlike Mons. Wicks, a man who spews hatred, makes everything about himself, and pines for the material in a role that calls for only the bare necessities, Jud agrees with Blanc. He agrees so far as what has shaped one’s view of the church – positive or negative – are the stories told, passed down and interpreted to give people a sense of right and wrong, of structure, but that have often been maligned in accordance with man’s desires and not the will of God or in accordance with Jesus’ original teachings. “Do these stories convince us of a lie or do they resonate with something deep inside us that’s profoundly true?” Jud responds as Johnson positions O’Connor in front of a stained-glass window, where rays of sunlight spill through and only grow stronger the longer he speaks. Literally and figuratively illuminating O’Connor’s performance as the centerpiece, the bedrock, the conduit of the film, and what it means to say, while blowing the mystery wide open as well. 

After a single viewing, it is also impossible to grasp how well put together the pieces of the case are, how intricately the details are woven through, and whether, upon second viewing, they will hold up or fall apart once the whole picture is understood. Being familiar with Johnson’s writing style, there’s little doubt “Wake Up Dead Man” won’t pass such tests and likely will only improve upon further inspection. And while the mystery itself and how it unravels may initially feel somewhat scattered and more than a little outlandish in particular instances what is so striking about this third installment is how expertly Johnson delineates between these two opposing viewpoints and makes them work in harmony for the sake of his screenplay. Blanc is ever the pessimist, suspicious of everyone and everything, openly dismissing God as a fiction even when his audience is made up of devoted churchgoers. He is out to catch the wicked and bring them to justice, whereas Fr. Jud represents everything one would hope the church to be today, but rarely is, as his intentions are pure in serving the wicked and bringing them to Christ. Johnson emphasizes the idea of grace at multiple points, further highlighting this idea of forgiveness – mainly for those who seem to deserve it the least but need it the most. In this sense, the storytelling is quite clear and very clever – dressing a murder as a miracle – but as Benoit Blanc says in reference to the church at one point, “I feel the grandeur, the mystery, the intended emotional effect,” we feel this with the film as well. Though we’ve focused on the latter two quite a bit here it should be noted the majesty with which Johnson and his team have constructed this world for their story. Nathan Johnson’s score, the production design of the church (that pulpit!), and certain compositions utilizing the architecture, myths and costumes of the church are all present to significant effect. Additionally, in keeping with Johnson’s traditions, Noah Segan doing his best Charlie Day impression is super fun in his single scene cameo.

Director: Noah Baumbach
Starring: George Clooney, Adam Sandler & Laura Dern
Rated: R (language)
Runtime: 2 hours & 12 minutes

 
Writer-director Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly” is the story of a man who so badly wanted to become a legendary actor that he forgot essentially how to be anything else – a father, husband, friend.
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In one of his best career performances, George Clooney inhabits the role of the titular character, one who undoubtedly has accomplished his life goals and dream but finds himself wondering what it means when an old friend, one who played an essential role in making that dream a reality, dies, and he’s confronted by a character from his past who accuses him of stealing his life.

Clooney gives an excellent performance for sure in one that will likely garner him a Best Actor Oscar nomination, hitting all the emotional notes one would expect. Still, I’m not sure if the script by Baumbach and Emily Mortimer, who has a small role in the film as Kelly’s makeup artist, gives us enough backstory to explain why Clooney feels the way he does or enough emotional interest in why we should care about Clooney’s feelings, if we, in fact, should. I think there’s definitely a way one could watch “Jay Kelly” and not feel anything for Kelly or even view him as a villain in his story, and I believe that would be valid.

I’d like to know more about why Kelly wanted this life, more about how he wasn’t the father he should or could’ve been, etc., than Baumbach and Mortimer gave us.

I like Adam Sandler in his more serious roles, of which we seem to be getting more of over the last decade, and I think it’s great he can still mix the serious with the dumbly funny – with this coming out the same year as “Happy Gilmore 2.” At nearly 60, Sandler is clearly still one of the hardest-working men in the business between these films and his stand-up touring. Sandler’s business manager, Ron Sukenick, is all in on his clients, especially Jay Kelly, whom he will stop at nothing to help, even if it comes at the expense of his family life. Sandler’s performance, which is garnering some first Oscar nomination buzz – though I think he’ll ultimately fall short of that, finds him doing admirable, non-showy work as a man trying to be Jay Kelly’s friend in addition to that of manager, while trying to be a good husband and father, and also mixing an interesting storyline in with Laura Dern’s Liz, Jay Kelly’s publicist, in which they once had a romantic relationship that fizzled due to their individual loyalty to Kelly, which Liz is entirely over, while Ron is warring with the relationship.

I will say the decision to have Sandler’s character call all of those close to him, “puppy,” was a character decision that grated on me. I’m not sure a straight character can get away with that.

Billy Crudup is drawing buzz as Timothy Galligan, who was the star of Jay Kelly’s acting class in school, but lost out on a big audition to Kelly when he wouldn’t take Kelly’s good advice and played it safe. Timothy accuses Jay of stealing what should have been his life – and some might believe it to be true – but Timothy had his shot and blew it. Is it really Jay Kelly’s fault for capitalizing on it? I think Baumbach does a good job at leaving it up for interpretation.

What Baumbach does that I liked quite a bit about the film was the little flashback asides, where Kelly is clearly thinking about points in his life that were turning points and wondering whether or not he should have jumped off the train, like the time he did a film with an actress played by Eve Hewson, fell in love and then once the film was done they went their ways. With Hewson’s actress leaving the business, Jay Kelly was focused solely on superstardom.

The bones of Baumbach’s film are there. As one who’s never been the biggest fan of his movies (other than “Marriage Story”), I think “Jay Kelly’ is still one of his career highlights thanks to Clooney and some of the little things that flourish, but ultimately I needed to care more about Jay Kelly and those surrounding him for this to be something I’d want to return to or remember much about in the future.

Director: Clint Bentley
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones & William H. Macy
Rated: PG-13 (some violence & sexuality)
Runtime: 1 hour & 42 minutes

 
Director Clint Bentley’s “Train Dreams,” which is streaming on Netflix, left me entranced. It’s not a film that breaks any new ground in the way in which the story is told, but it is a method you don’t see often, and when done beautifully, it has a way of staying with you long after the film has ended.
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It’s more of a lyrical poem than your traditional narrative film in that it doesn’t really stay in one place too long, following Joel Edgerton’s hardworking, everyman Robert Grainier through the hard life of being a logger in Idaho and the surrounding areas in a post-World War I economy. The entire story, which follows much of Grainier’s life – a lot of it tragic in the way the real world can be, especially of that era and profession – is told through beautifully written narration by screenwriters Bentley and Grew Kwedar (based on a novella by Denis Johnson) and spoken by Will Patton’s who’s voice and performance fit the story so perfectly I wondered if a narration performance could potentially be nominated for an Academy Award (of course, it won’t be).

Edgerton is the best he’s ever been – at least from what I’ve seen him in – in the role as Grainier, with the actor’s rugged, stoic face being the perfect features for a man who makes a living with his hands in such a dangerous business. He’s not a man of many words, but he shouldn’t be. He’s supposed to be a stand-in for the great men of the past – the kind that were silent heroes and providers and have mostly fallen by the wayside in a more fast-paced world in the century since. Edgerton is likely a Best Actor Oscar nominee.

All of the other characters come into and out of Grainier’s life, many in loving or important ways, and are quickly and tragically snapped back out of it. While not having a whole lot of screentime, Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon, Nathaniel Arcand and William H. Macy all leave their marks on the story. Macy is likely a shoo-in for a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars, unless some view his screentime as too short for such an honor. He plays an elder logger on Grainier’s logging team and shares a lot of wisdom that you know will never leave the forefront of Grainier’s mind. I saw somebody somewhere say it’s “Macy in his Walter Brennan era,” and I couldn’t agree more.

If you’re looking for something fun and easy to watch, don’t bother with “Train Dreams,” but if you want to see something thought-provoking and crafted in a way that leads film to be an art form, something more than just mindless entertainment, I couldn’t recommend this one more. And, while many complain about feature films on streaming services like Netflix, especially award-worthy fare, I think it’s terrific that more folks will inevitably see “Train Dreams” because it’s easily accessible on Netflix than if the film had only been shown in theaters. Sure, this is the kind of film that would look grand on the big screen, with its naturalistic settings and beautiful wilderness but having more eyes on your project must be a dream for a storyteller.

“Train Dreams” is only Bentley’s second directorial effort, though he was nominated for an Academy Award earlier this year for co-writing “Sing Sing,” with Kwedar (who directed that film), but he looks like one who has a promising future, especially if he continues to co-create with Kwedar.

When Glen Powell decided to take up the Tom Cruise mantle, I didn’t think he’d be so literal with it. 
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Tonal inconsistencies are the last thing one expects from an Edgar Wright experience, yet “The Running Man,” in large part due to the persona its star has already carved out, never lands on whether it desires to be a cynical satire, an alternative actioner, or a balance of the two, resulting in a mess of blurred intentions. No surprise, Scott Pilgrim is the highlight of the film; Michael Cera’s brief diversion provides a glimpse of what could have been had Wright wielded more confidence with the material. The ideas and analogies aren’t lost on 2025 America, yet none of it feels especially biting or as specific in its commentary as Wright’s riffs on other genres. Instead, this is the filmmaker’s least distinct effort to date. The casino with the neon crosses on the front was a nice touch. I also miss the days when Jansky would have been played by Andy Samberg. Crucially, this features one of the most secure towels in cinema history, and even if he doesn’t feel completely settled in the part, Powell is one hell of a legitimate screen presence

Typically, I’m a big fan of whatever director David Michôd decides to try his hand at, but despite this sports drama feeling like a "movie" movie, there is a distinct lack of passion behind the eyes. “Christy” begins in 1989 and spans 23 years, meaning the titular character, as played by 28-year-old Sydney Sweeney, is expected to play 21 to 44 yet she is hardly aged besides looking a little worse for wear around the eyes thanks to her physically and mentally abusive husband played like a caricature of a person by the (again) typically reliable Ben Foster. Further, the production design sustains its ‘90s atmosphere despite moving well into the 2010s - or maybe that's just West Virginia?

Say what you will about Sweeney, but between “Americana,” “Immaculate,” “Eden,” this, and her upcoming “The Housemaid,” she's not exactly playing it safe and is clearly interested in making interesting and ambitious - if not always successful - projects. She's not the reason “Christy” falls short either, somehow even overcoming this hairstyle choice to turn in a credible, weighted performance.

Four stars purely for the screenplay, though Richard Linklater's nimble direction guides this sometimes obnoxiously character-driven piece from one conversation to the next with a pace he makes appear effortless, while Ethan Hawke's performance as the grandstanding Lorenz Hart is somehow endearing despite the character's multiple attempts at intolerability.
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My favorite Linklater films and films about artists in general are those that seem to both admire their subjects while also not necessarily mocking but carry an air of self-awareness that the characters never know. “Blue Moon” largely does this through its exhibitions of Hart's interactions with other bar patrons. Whether this be Patrick Kennedy's E.B. White, Bobby Cannavale's Eddie, Andrew Scott's Richard Rodgers, or - most critically - Margaret Qualley's Elizabeth Weiland, the film layers in Hart's own quirks and pain without ever becoming as intolerable as its own protagonist.