IS THIS THING ON? (2025) review
written by: Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, and Mark Chappell
produced by: Bradley Cooper, Weston Middleton, Will Arnet & Kris Thykier
directed by: Bradley Cooper
rated: R (for language throughout, sexual references and some drug use)
runtime: 121 min.
U.S. release date: December 19, 2025
Actor Bradley Cooper’s directing filmography thus far has been both ambitious and tremendous. Regardless of what you thought of 2018’s “A Star is Born” and 2023’s “Maestro”, they were both fascinating examinations of complex and flawed musicians. Both of them starred Cooper in significant lead roles, and were mighty endeavors that earned awards, and now, for his third outing as director, Cooper offers “Is This Thing On?” He dials it down for a small-scale story focused on a married couple navigating sudden seismic shifts in their lives. It’s not just a break-up movie, nor is it solely about stand-up comics (hence the title), as co-writers Mark Chappell and Will Arnett (who also plays a lead role) loosely mine real-life material from John Bishop’s life, a former English athlete-turned-comedian. I found out about that part after I watched the movie, and it made me want to see it. Read more…
KILL BILL: THE WHOLE BLOODY AFFAIR (2006) review
written by: Quintin Tarantino
produced by: Lawrence Bender
directed by: Quintin Tarantino
rated: R (for strong bloody violence, language and some sexual content)
runtime: 247 min.
U.S. release date: May 2006 (Cannes Film Festival) and December 5, 2025 (theatrical)
It’s likely that the only people willing to sit in theaters for 4 hours to watch “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair” are the ones who know lines by heart. Or they could be the ones who felt this is how writer/director Quintin Tarantino’s fourth and fifth films should’ve originally been released, instead of in two volumes, six months apart, back in 2003 and 2004. Each half still has five chapters, but here is now a 15-minute intermission between “Volume 1” and “Volume 2”, both of which have been combined with a few tweaks and subtle differences to tell one complete, brutal tale of blood-spraying revenge. Read more…
ETERNITY (2025) review
written by: Pat Cunnane and David Freyne
produced by: Trevor White and Tim White
directed by: David Freyne
rated: PG-13 (for sexual content and some strong language)
runtime: 114 min.
U.S. release date: November 26, 2025
As long as humans have been sentient beings, there has been a curiosity about the unknown, and no subject has been more pondered than death. Of the many questions surrounding the subject, the biggest is what happens after death, often curiously referred to as the “afterlife”. In movies, the afterlife is often much more complicated than heaven or hell, and that’s usually because there’s a staging area that determines where we’ll spend it. That process frequently involves looking back on how a life was lived, as in the rom-com “Defending Your Life”, the 1991 classic from Albert Brooks. In the new rom-com, “Eternity”, co-writers Patrick Cunnae and David Freyne (who also directs) pose a specific afterlife question: “Where would you choose to spend the rest of your afterlife?” Read more…
WICKED: FOR GOOD (2025) review
written by: Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox (screenplay), Stephen Schwartz (musical), and Gregory Maguire (novel)
produced by: Mark Platt and David Stone
directed by: John M. Chu
rated: PG (for action/violence, some suggestive material and thematic material)
runtime: 137 min.
U.S. release date: November 21, 2025
“Wicked: Part 1” was a massive hit in theaters this time last year. The charming movie adaptation of the immensely “Popular” 2003 stage musical mostly satisfied existing fans while enchanting some new ones as well. Director John M. Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians”) delivered an event-cinema experience featuring big musical numbers, along with Oscar-winning costumes and production design. I went in cold and wound up enjoying the colorful iteration of Oz and its exploration of the friendship and tension between its two main characters, Elphaba and Galinda, but its ending left me wanting more. This turned the “Part 1” into something more like a threat than a promise. Nevertheless, since both parts were filmed all at once, we now have “Wicked: For Good”, which is an inevitably darker side of the fantasy tale with a promise of a dramatic payoff. Read more…
LEFT-HANDED GIRL (2025) review
written by: Shih-Ching Tsou and Sean Baker
produced by: Shih-Ching Tsou, Sean Baker, and Mike Goodridge
directed by: Shih-Ching Tsou
rated: R (for sexual content and language)
runtime: 109 in.
U.S. release date: November 14, 2025 (theatrical) and Novemeber 28, 2025 (Netflix)
When “Left-Handed Girl” premiered at Cannes last May, many stated the drama felt like a Sean Baker film, which was surprising considering the DIY auteur had won a handful of Oscars in January for “Anora”, which also won the Palm d’Or at the previous year’s Cannes. Well, those feelings about “Left-Handed Girl” weren’t far off, considering Baker co-wrote the film with Taiwanese-American director Shih-Ching Tsou, Baker’s collaborator of more than two decades. The pair wrote and directed their first feature, 2004’s “Take Out”, and Tsou has produced several of Baker’s films, often acting in them as well (she ran the donut shops in both “Tangerine” and “Red Rocket”). While “Left-Handed Girl” is her solo directorial debut, Baker co-wrote and edited it, so any commonalities found are understandable. Read more…
THE CONJURING: LAST RITES (2025) review
written by: Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick
produced by: James Wan and Peter Safran
directed by: Michael Chaves
rated: R (for bloody/violent content and terror)
runtime: 135 min.
U.S. release date: September 5, 2025 (theatrical), October 7, 2025 (digital HD), & November 25, 2025 (Blu-ray/DVD)
Who would’ve thought that there would be a “Conjuring” universe back in 2013 when director James Wan’s “The Conjuring” was released, let alone eight movies that populated that universe? On that note, no one would’ve thought that “The Conjuring: Last Rites”, the third sequel with a $55 million budget, would be the highest-grossing entry in the franchise, making $495 million. Usually, I have no interest in box-office earnings. Still, it’s hard not to be curious and impressed by this, especially since it’s yet another movie that has contributed to Warner Bros. Pictures’ incredibly successful year. The sequel, directed by Michael Chaves, who helmed “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” (2021) and “The Nun II” (2023), may conclude the supernatural investigations of Ed and Lorraine Warren, as portrayed by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, respectively. Read more…
THE RUNNING MAN (2025) review
written by: Edgar Wright
produced by: Simon Kinberg, Nira Park, and Edgar Wright
directed by: Edgar Wright
rated: R (for strong violence, some gore, and language)
runtime: 133 min.
U.S. release date: November 14, 2025
It’s 2025, and the United States is a dystopian police state ruled by corporate media networks, where citizens live in a state of class disparity. Most people live in poverty with access to poor or little healthcare. To distract from a totalitarian hellhole, people are kept pacified by FreeVee, television programming that bombards the population with trashy reality shows and violent game shows. Sound familiar? Read more…
KEEPER (2025) review
written by: Nick Lepard
produced by: Chris Ferguson & Jesse Savath
directed by: Osgood Perkins
rated: R (for some violent content/gore, language, and some sexual references)
runtime: 99 min.
U.S. release date: November 14, 2025
“Why does it always have to end?”
By my count, Osgood Perkins’ “Keeper“ is the sixteenth new horror movie I’ve watched in 2025, with the genre accounting for nearly half of the films I’ve seen in the entire year. It’s safe to say horror is thriving at the moment, thanks in no small part to Perkins himself, as this is his third theatrically released film in the last 16 months following “Longlegs” and “The Monkey.” “Keeper” is both the most and least ambitious of the three, landing in a similar spot as Alex Garland’s “Men,” in the subgenre of folk horror with a heaping helping of commentary on toxic masculinity. Read more…
THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD? (2025) review
written by: Gabe Polsky
produced by: Gabe Polsky
directed by: Gabe Polsky
rated: not rated
runtime: 87 min.
U.S. release date: October 17, 2025 (limited) and November 14, 2025 (AMC River East 21, Chicago, IL), November 15, 2025 (Wayfarer Theaters, Highland Park, IL)
I appreciate a movie title that presents a question and actually includes a question mark in its title. That may sound odd and/or obvious, but many “question titles” do not include the needed punctuation. The latest documentary from writer/producer/director Gabe Polsky, “The Man Who Saves The World?”, includes the necessary punctuation in its title, and that question mark loomed large in my mind throughout my viewing experience. No doubt, the title is catchy, prompting the reader to ask, “Who is this man?” But the more you repeat the title in your head, the more it seems the title is questioning the question. After all, what one man can save the world? Read more…
TRAIN DREAMS (2025) review
written by: Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar
produced by: Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer & Michael Heimler
directed by: Clint Bentley
rating: PG-13 (for some violence and sexuality)
runtime: 102 min.
U.S. release date: November 7, 2025 (select theaters) and November 21, 2025 (Netflix)
“Train Dreams” feels like a fever-dream memoir or the discovery of a long-lost journal of a man that would otherwise be forgotten. It’s a transportive viewing experience, as co-writer/director Clint Bentley (“Jockey”) adapts the 2011 novella of the same name by Denis Johnson. The story explores memory and loss, examining how these concepts are affected by the passage of time. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t appear to be a good fit for a transition to big-screen storytelling. However, Bentley does a masterful job at capturing our attention by maintaining the poetic tone of this mournful tale. “Train Dreams” is something special, capturing Johnson’s historical interests while also offering a beautiful atmosphere that at times feels like an emotional meditation. Read more…
