CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2025) review
written by: Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah & Peter Glanz
produced by: Kevin Feige and Nate Moore
directed by: Julius Onah
rated:
runtime: 118 min.
U.S. release date: February 14, 2025
We’re at the point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where you may feel out of sorts if you’re not caught up with each movie or television series on Disney+. That’s understandable. “Captain America: Brave New World” is the 35th installment in the MCU and the penultimate entry in what’s considered Phase Five (which started two years ago with the lackluster “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”). It’s the first sequel after the Captain America trilogy (arguably the best in the franchise), which saw Chris Evans playing Steve Rogers, to feature a different character wielding the iconic shield and it’s also the first Marvel movie helmed by Julius Onah (“Luce” and “The Cloverfield Paradox”). It’s bound to feel different, especially with five screenwriters involved in rewrites, a retitle, and reshoots. Read more…
LOVE HURTS (2025) review
written by: Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard and Luke Passmore
produced by: Kelly McCormick, David Leitch, and Guy Danella
directed by: Jonathan Eusebio
rated: R (for strong/bloody violence and language throughout)
runtime: 83 min.
U.S. release date: February 7, 2025
After Key Huy Quan won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in 2022’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” it was easy to want more success to come his way. He seems like a genuinely grateful and humble guy, and his comeback story after such a long gap from his outstanding work in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “The Goonies” was wonderful to watch. So, naturally, seeing Quan headline his first feature film would be cool and something to look forward to. It would appear “Love Hurts,” an action comedy taking place around Valentine’s Day, is just that opportunity for Quan, and it’s also the directorial debut for Jonathan Eusebio, who worked as a stunt performer in the “John Wick” series and in last summer’s “The Fall Guy.” Quan is definitely the movie’s best part, once again showing his action skills with great enthusiasm and comic timing, but sadly, there isn’t much of a story here. Read more…
NO OTHER LAND (2024) review
written by: Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor
produced by: Fabien Greenberg and Bård Kjøge Rønning
directed by: Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor
rated: not rated
runtime: 95 min.
U.S. release date: January 31, 2025
Unless you’re a history major or well-versed in the Middle East, it’s confounding to determine where one starts understanding the division between the two cultures. “No Other Land” is the most crucial recent documentary that comes to mind and provides a ground-level understanding of the never-ending conflict between Israel and Palestine. It’s the first documentary about the occupation of Palestine since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023 and also the first to shed light on the systemic policy of forced expulsion through home demolitions. While it is a harrowing and frustrating viewing experience, seeing such determination amid relentless oppression is enlightening and humbling. Read more…
DOG MAN (2025) review
written by: Peter Hastings
produced by: Karen Foster
directed by: Peter Hastings
rated: PG (for some action and rude humor)
runtime: 89 min.
U.S. release date: January 31, 2025
“Dog Man” isn’t just another animated feature seemingly released monthly in theaters. This is a fun movie that anyone who likes mischievous silliness and vibrant imagination will find easily enjoyable. The titular, “Part Dog. Part Man. All Hero, ” as the movie’s tagline reads, is a spin-off from writer/artist Dav Pilkey’s successful Captain Underpants series of children’s books. After that character’s big-screen debut in 2017, it’s natural to see another Pilkey creation, Dog Man, a beloved character with thirteen graphic novels by the creator, follow with its own adaptation. Writer/director Peter Hastings (whose last feature was 2002’s “Country Bears”) knows what makes the character work on the page and does an excellent job at carrying all that over into a playful and genuinely funny movie. Read more…
FLIGHT RISK (2025) review
written by: Jared Rosenberg
produced by: John Davis, John Fox, Bruce Davey & Mel Gibson
directed by: Mel Gibson
rated: R (for violence and language)
runtime: 91 min.
U.S. release date: January 24, 2025
The tagline for the thriller “Flight Risk” reads, “Y’all Need a Pilot?” and after watching this, the answer to that question is, without a doubt, “Nope.” This is probably the most January of January releases in some time, and it’s also unintentionally the weirdest and funniest movie of the year so far. But, the confounding thing is figuring out what actor Mark Wahlberg and director Mel Gibson are doing here. That’s because “Flight Risk” consists of probably the biggest acting we’ve seen from Wahlberg, and this is definitely a far cry from the epic moviemaking Gibson is known for. They get credit for doing something different here, but that doesn’t mean it works. Read more…
Top Ten Films of 2024
Are these the best films released in 2024? Maybe not to you and maybe not to many others. That’s the beauty and challenge of making your own arbitrary list. We do it out of tradition, for reference, and as a way to close out the year in film. However, it’s never a hard “close out,” and no doubt there are some films from last year that we’ll be catching up with at some point. But we must call it at some point, and now here we are… Read more…
WOLF MAN (2025) review
written by: Leigh Whannell and Corbett Tuck
produced by: Jason Blum
directed by: Leigh Whannell
rated: R (for bloody violent content, grisly images and some language)
runtime: 103 min.
U.S. release date: January 17, 2025
I used to not care so much about the runtime of a movie, but towards the end of last year, it seemed like all the movies I was trying to catch up with were over two hours, and, well, there’s only so much time in the day. The opposite came to mind after watching “Wolf Man,” the latest update to the classic Universal Studios Monsters creature, from co-writer/director Leigh Wannell, after the Australian filmmaker delivered a unique spin on “The Invisible Man” five years ago. When the movie ended in under two hours, I wondered, “Is that it?” Read more…
DEN OF THIEVES 2: PANTERA (2025) review
written by: Christian Gudegast
produced by: Tucker Tooley, Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Mark Canton & O’Shea Jackson Jr.
directed by: Christian Gudegast
rated: R (for pervasive language, some violence, drug use, and sexual references}
runtime: 144 min.
U.S. release date: January 10, 2025
In 2018, “Den of Thieves” was a surprise sleeper hit. It was a surprise primarily because a fair amount of critics thought the heist thriller from writer/director Christian Gudegast was good. It stood out in a sea of second-tier similar crime thrillers, resembling something more along the lines of Michael Mann’s “Heat” than anything too “Fast & Furious.” While that movie wasn’t necessarily a smash hit, it still had enough interest to greenlight a sequel, and here we are with “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.” Read more…
THE DAMNED (2025) review
written by: Jamie Hannigan
produced by: Emilie Jouffroy, Kamilla Hodol, John Keville, Conor Barry, Tim Headington & Theresa Steele Page
Nate Kamiya
directed by: Thordur Palsson
rated: R (for bloody violent content, suicide, and some language)
runtime: 89 min.
U.S. release date: January 3, 2025
The first month of the year here in the States usually sees a handful of horror movies dropping from American studios and a smattering of comedies and action flicks, most of them being quite subpar at best. 2025 is starting out differently; however, with the release of “The Damned,” a tense and haunting international horror thriller set in the 19th Century, that’s quite riveting. This is the feature-length directorial debut from Icelandic filmmaker Thordur Palsson (who established himself by helming Netflix’s “The Valhalla Murders”), who’s working with screenwriter Jamie Hannigan on a story that focuses on a small group of fishermen in a remote arctic fishing outpost during a harsh winter. There’s a palpable bone-chilling feeling throughout that’ll make you check to see if you can see your breath while watching this unsettling tale of guilt and regret that challenges sanity as madness gradually spreads. Read more…
NOSFERATU (2024) review
written by Robert Eggers (inspired by the screenplay “Nosferatu” by Henrik Galeen, inspired by the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker)
produced by Chris Colombus, Eleanor Colombus, Robert Eggers, John Graham, Jeff Robinov
directed by: Robert Eggers
rated: R (for bloody violent content, graphic nudity and some sexual content)
runtime: 132 min.
U.S. release date: December 25, 2024
“My good fellow, why would you do that?”
With his first three films, “The VVitch,” “The Lighthouse,” and “The Northman,” filmmaker Robert Eggers proved himself obsessed with the tiniest details. What all three lacked in the story, they more than made up for with the mood and the efforts to make things as accurate to the period as humanly possible. I haven’t felt any of them to be wholly successful, but there was enough talent on display behind the camera to keep me tuning in. Read more…
