Tag Archives: 2025

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Drama, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) Movie Review

After nearly 30 years, the Mission: Impossible film franchise is finally (maybe) coming to an end. As a time capsule, it has tracked Hollywood’s A-list golden boy Tom Cruise through multiple eras of Hollywood blockbuster. In 1996, the town was dominated by movies led by actors who could “open.” That list of talent who can sell a movie on their star power alone has long since shrunk into (arguably) a single digit number.

Cruise has fought to remain on this dwindling list, largely hanging his hat on the franchise that allows him to tout death-defying stunts and globe-trotting exploits. The franchise has grown with his outsized ambition, bloating into epics of grandiose international espionage with ludicrous plots and lengthy (and often exquisitely choreographed) set pieces.

For those that enjoy the fare, the ballooning insanity of the franchise’s stunts (and runtimes) is not only accepted but encouraged. It is only expected, then, that Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie would fully embrace the Continue reading Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Friendship (2025) Movie Review

It has become increasingly common since the COVID-19 pandemic for stories, think pieces, podcast episodes, TikTok clips, studies, surveys, and all manner of media detritus to be made on the current state of adult friendship and an apparent “loneliness epidemic.” Why are people feeling so lonely, more so now than ever before?

Despite how it’s been characterized, this “epidemic” is not a novel phenomenon unique to one generation or isolated to a “post-pandemic” moment in time. It’s a decades old trend in declining social connection, according to former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Still, the discourse surrounding this supposed epidemic comes with the usual nervy energy of Internet-brained discussion: if this is a crisis, then it must have a solution, and its causes must be easily condensed into digestible bullet points.

This reduction of the complexities of human relationships into basic cause-effect bullet points (we are more lonely…because technology!) is a useful entry point into Continue reading Friendship (2025) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Horror, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) Movie Review

After spending time revisiting all of the Final Destination films, I found the long wet cement of my opinions on the franchise finally hardening. Until now, I wasn’t quite certain on the merits of the horror series in which the unseen force of Death gleefully slaughters special individuals who at first escape Death’s grasp. There is something fun about the premise, and in discrete moments this sense of fun comes to the fore. But often, these films are fairly mild in terms of horror and fail to nail the comedy tone that I think is necessary for these film to work at all.

Final Destination: Bloodlines, thankfully, fully understands the assignment. There are moments that lean towards serious drama, but in the main this film makes Continue reading Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) Movie Review →

2025 Academy Awards, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

2025 Academy Award Predictions — My Oscar Ballot

In previous years, I have taken the time to break down every Oscar race, assess each nominee’s odds, and ultimately give a prediction in each category. This year, time is short, so here we are. Last second predictions.

Here is one film critic’s ballot of Oscar predictions, full of hedged bets, personal opinions, the occasional bold swing, and pauses for halfhearted explanation.

Best Picture

Will Win: Anora
Could Win: The Brutalist
Biased Opinion: The Substance or Nickel Boys should win

I mulled over the possibilities of Continue reading 2025 Academy Award Predictions — My Oscar Ballot →

2025 Academy Awards, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Academy Awards 2025: Oscar Race Changes Direction after Critics, DGA, and PGA Announce Winners

Heading into this weekend, the 2025 Oscar season was already a complicated conversation. Embroiled in controversy, the one-time favorite from Netflix, Emilia Pérez, found its awards chances slipping through its fingers. The film was already a controversial film when it left Oscar nomination morning with the most nominations (13). The ensuing discovery of not-so-old social media posts from actress Karla Sofia Gascon has added significant baggage to the film’s campaign.

In an attempt to cut Gascon out of the film’s broader Oscar campaign, director Jacques Audiard has distanced himself from the actress and denounced her posts (Audiard himself has received his own share of criticism for some interview faux pas). And Gascon has stopped campaigning alongside the film’s other nominees.

Still, a meaningful rebound for Emilia Pérez will be difficult, and frankly there is not a lot of time left for Netflix and the film’s stable of nominees to convince Academy voters to stick with the film that they gave a baker’s dozen nominations.

The frontrunner status for Emilia Pérez was Continue reading Academy Awards 2025: Oscar Race Changes Direction after Critics, DGA, and PGA Announce Winners →

2025 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Surprises from the 2025 Oscar Nominations

Spoiler alert: There aren’t many.

The 2025 Academy Awards nominations have been announced, officially solidifying the Oscar campaigns of a number of awards hopefuls.

Many of the films nominated were the ones prognosticators were expecting. Truly, the most shocked I was watching Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott announce the nominees was seeing the Elton John song get a Best Original Song nomination. Even with this, after thinking about it for a moment, it made reasonable sense as a nomination.

As much as we can talk about surprises, these are the snubs and unexpected noms from this morning’s announcement.

Best Picture Snubs

Given the Academy’s recent track record of nominating a buzzy non-American production in Best Picture (this year there are two), it is not a total shock to see Continue reading Surprises from the 2025 Oscar Nominations →