WARFARE (2025) review
written by: Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland
produced by: Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Matthew Penry-Davey, and Peter Rice
directed by: Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland
rated: R (for intense war violence and bloody/grisly images, and language throughout)
runtime: 95 min.
U.S. release date: April 11, 2025
Last year, English writer/director Alex Garland dropped “Civil War,” a dystopian thriller showing a divided United States, and this summer, he’ll reteam with Danny Boyle for “28 Years Later” the much-anticipated continuation of the post-apocalyptic thriller they started 23 years ago. But, before that, Garland brings us “Warfare,” a realistic war film from the recent past written and directed with Ray Mendoza (a decorated U.S. Navy SEAL who served as a military advisor on “Civil War”), who draws upon his own platoon experience with a raw authenticity that’s quite often utterly disturbing and profoundly challenging to watch. There’s no jingoism in this troubling tale of survival that feels like an unrelenting assault on the senses. It may be too much for some, but this impressive immersion into the tension and trauma of military service is exactly something that needs to be seen on the big screen by as many people as possible. Read more…
DROP (2025) review
written by: Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach
produced by: Michael Bay, Jason Blum, Brad Fuller, and Cameron Fuller
directed by: Christopher Landon
rated: PG-13 (for strong violent content, suicide, some strong language, and sexual references)
runtime: 95 min.
U.S. release date: April 11, 2025
We’ve all been on a bad date. It would be hard to know what a good one is if we hadn’t. The thriller “Drop” takes place on a first date that will likely remind viewers of their worst dates over the years. While watching, you’ll probably wind up looking at your watch or rolling your eyes, just like you would on a bad date. It’s the third of six movies from Blumhouse, a production company that continues to saturate the market with genre offerings yearly. It’s directed by Christopher Landon (“Happy Death Day” and “We Have a Ghost”), who’s been involved in many horror flicks or thrillers (most for Blumhouse) over the years as either a writer, producer, or director. The overall conceit of the thriller, from the minds of screenwriters Jillian Jacobs (“Fantasy Island”) and Chris Roach (“Truth or Dare”), should warrant a tautly wound thrill ride. Instead, we got a haphazard, wanna-be Hitchcockian tale that tries too hard to be slick and clever. Read more…
THE AMATEUR (2025) review
written by: Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli (screenplay) and Robert Littel (novel)
produced by: Hutch Parker, Dan Wilson, Rami Malek, and Joel B. Michaels
directed by: James Hawes
rated: PG-13 (for some strong language and violence)
runtime: 123 min.
U.S. release date: April 11, 2025
After killing off James Bond in 2021’s “No Time to Die” (spoiler alert!), Oscar-winner Rami Malek shouldn’t be underestimated. The same can be said for the character he plays in his latest role. His turn as a Bond villain landed him the lead in the new espionage thriller, “The Amateur,” the second feature from British director James Hawes after “One Life,” a biographical drama starring Anthony Hopkins released in 2023. The screenplay by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli is the second time Robert Littell’s Cold War-influenced spy novel of the same name was adapted for the big screen after John Savage played the titular unassuming threat in 1981. This modern-day update has technology that the source material never had while maintaining its straightforward revenge plot. Read more…
CLFF 2025: Shipwrecks (Naufragios)
One of the many North American premieres at the 41st Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) this week is “Naufragios” (that’s “Shipwrecks” in English), directed by Argentinian filmmaker Vanina Spataro, making her feature-length debut. Spataro co-wrote the character-driven tale with Daniel García Molt, and it’s reminiscent of one of French auteur Éric Rohmer’s seasonal dramas from the 1990s in the way it uses both location and a specific time of year. “Shipwrecks” will be screened tonight and on Wednesday, April 9th at 8:30 pm. Details, along with a brief review, can be found below. Read more…
A WORKING MAN (2025) review
written by: Sylvester Stallone and David Ayer (screenplay); based on the book “Levon’s Trade” by Chuck Dixon
produced by: David Ayer, Bill Block, John Friedberg, Chris Long, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Kevin King Templeton
directed by: David Ayer
rated: R (for strong violent content, gore, language, and some drug use)
runtime: 116 min.
U.S. release date: March 28, 2025
“You killed your way into this, so you’re gonna have to kill your way out of it.”
2024’s sublimely entertaining “The Beekeeper” gave Jason Statham’s action-leading man career the much-needed boost of ridiculous levity it has always needed. Statham re-teaming with that film’s director, David Ayer, 14 months later for “A Working Man” seemed like a no-brainer, though the films are (sadly) not interchangeable. I know how absurd that sounds, but it basically comes down to this: “A Working Man” takes itself way more seriously than “The Beekeeper.” Read more…
THE WOMAN IN THE YARD (2025) review
written by: Sam Stefanak
produced by: Stephanie Allain and Jason Blum
directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
rated: PG-13 (for terror, some violent content/bloody images, suicide-related content, and brief strong language)
runtime: 85 min.
U.S. release date: March 28, 2025
“Your children are so darling… they look ripe enough to eat.”
The horror movie monster as a metaphor for a huge emotional human concept like grief, trauma, or depression is certainly not anything new. However, recent films like “Hereditary” and “The Babadook” have done so pretty definitively. It’s fertile ground for horror, and Jaume Collet-Serra’s “The Woman in the Yard” is happy to till its way into that cinematic soil. Read more…
FREAKY TALES (2025) review
written by: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
produced by: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Jelani Johnson, and Poppy Hanks
directed by: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
rated: R (for strong bloody violence, language throughout, including slurs, sexual content, and drug use)
runtime: 107 min.
U.S. release date: April 4, 2025
“Freaky Tales” is the follow-up project for Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the directing duo whose last foray was in the MCU, helming 2019’s “Captain Marvel.” It’s a fun, sci-fi action comedy, with spurts of bloody violence, that tells four interconnected stories occurring in Oakland, California, circa 1987. It’s an interesting “next step” for the filmmakers, clearly showing a Gen X affinity for overall 80s pop culture, especially considering their film before the Marvel hit was uniquely character-driven and idiosyncratic (I highly recommend “Sugar” and “Mississippi Grind”). Boden and Fleck also wrote the screenplay for “Freaky Tales,” it takes inspiration from the people, locations, and events of a specific time while combining them with aspects of bizarre fantasy. Read more…
Chicago Latino Film Festival 2025 preview
This week, the annual Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) returns, offering film enthusiasts opportunities to see films they are unlikely to find anywhere else. While some of the films have already premiered at other film festivals or have been box-office hits in their own country, many of them have not secured a distributor or a streaming deal yet, so this is a great chance to see them. On that note, CLFF is the longest-running Latino film festival in the States, and now in its 41st year, there are 51 feature-length films – six of which are world premieres, thirteen are North American premieres, and six are United States premieres – and thirty shorts, scheduled between April 3rd through April 14th. For locals in or near Chicago who lament access to more Latino-centric cinema, this is what you’ve been waiting for. Read more…
DEATH OF A UNICORN (2025) review
written by: Alex Scharfman
produced by: Lucas Joaquin, Tyler Campellone, Drew Houpt, Lars Knudsen, Alex Scharfman, Tim Headington & Theresa Steele Page
directed by: Alex Scharfman
rated: R (for strong violent content, gore, language, and some drug use)
runtime: 107 min.
U.S. release date: March 28, 2025
For those concerned, no unicorns were harmed during the making of “Death of a Unicorn,” despite the title. The movie offers a different take on the legendary mythical beings, presenting them as bloodthirsty monsters on top of their reputation as magical, elegant, horse-like creatures. The horror comedy is the feature-length debut of writer/director Alex Scharfman, and it’s one of those movies that’s easy to laugh along with while cheering for the rampaging unicorns fatally plowing through self-absorbed, greedy humans. Scharfman offers a serious take on a satirical story with dementedly humorous and ridiculous situations, and that’s much of its appeal. That being said, the material is likely only for a select albeit specific type of audience. Read more…
SNOW WHITE (2025) review
written by: Erin Cressida Wilson
produced by: Marc Platt and Jared LeBoff
directed by: Marc Webb
rated: PG (for violence, some peril, thematic elements, and brief rude humor)
runtime: 109 min.
U.S. release date: March 21, 2025
Out of all the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, Snow White has gotten the most mileage since it was published in 1812. There have been different iterations of the story from different countries, but by far, the most frequent versions have been the tale’s extensive number of film adaptations. The most famous of them all is the 1937 Walt Disney Production, which was the American studio’s first-ever animated feature and would become not only the highest-grossing film of 1938 (it had a limited release in December 1937 and an official one in February 1938) but is considered one of the greatest films ever made, creating the business of feature-length animation, and earning producer Walt Disney an Honorary Oscar. 88 years later, the House of Mouse has added the property to its long list of live-action remakes of their classic animated features, most of them being pointless and unnecessary. That may seem harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts. Read more…
