Tag: DRAMA

URCHIN (2025)

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Written & Directed By: Harris Dickinson 

Cinematography: Josee Deshaies

Editor: Rafael Torres Calderon

Cast: Frank Dillane, Harris Dickinson, Megan Northam, Karyna Khymchuk, Shonagh Marie, Amr Waked, Diane Axford, Okezie Morro

A young addict living on the streets of London is given a shot at redemption, but his road to recovery soon curdles into a strange odyssey from which he may never escape.

At first, I didn’t know what to expect from this film, but it proves to be a harrowing character study. Of someone going through their hardships and who, despite even their mistakes and bad judgments you still root for. No matter how bad it or they get.

The film is constantly surprising and filled with plenty of joy and hope, but also just as much dread that hangs over it at times.

Which has an audience member might be what you appreciate the most about the film as it gives a realistic presentation that isn’t necessarily uplifting, but isn’t doom and gloom either.

As the film shows homelessness, but it also shows rehabilitation for better or worse seemingly it is what you make of it, but there are plenty of challenges to it, and it depends on the individual and the strength of their character. As there is always temptation in the film. Also choose the show the many ways in which it can go wrong.

The only thing that might be a bit annoying about the film is the visual metaphor of nature and Woodlands the wonders of it that seems to represent the main character’s mental state at times or used to show the passage of time

This film is the directorial debut of Harris Dickinson and it’s quite impressive as he doesn’t make it a showcase for a new role for himself to show range. He does eappear in the film, but in a smaller supporting role. He wrote, directed it and the great. Frank Dillane is amazing in the film, but it also chooses to show the public about the hardships of a certain lifestyle that many and it can’t help. 

had I seen it last year that’s definitely would’ve made my top 20

Grade: A 

BIRDEATER (2023)

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Written & Directed By: Jack Clark & Jim Weir 

Cinematography: Roger Stonehouse

Editor: Ben Anderson 

Cast: Shabana Azeez, Mackenzie Fearnley, Ben Hunter, Jack Bannister, Clementine Anderson, Alfie Gledhill, Harley Wilson, Caroline McQuade 

A bride-to-be is invited to her fiancé’s bachelor party, but when uncomfortable details of their relationship are exposed, the night takes a feral turn.

This Australian film is a hard film to explain or exactly describe that as it builds itself a horror film, though it’s not quite that though throughout there are plenty of shocks and a lot of uncomfortable scenes.

This is a film best to go into blind and discover for yourself. So hopefully you watch it before reading the review. As I will try not to spoil it.

Though the film focuses more on friendships and relationships and the traumas, they can cause or being in one while trying to get over trauma

The pain and torture we cause the ones we care about in love as well as our ourselves for the people we love.

As this filmmore explores the horrors of relationship post traumatic stress, and the realization that the longer you spend with each other, there is a depth, but it also leads you to start drifting away from one another, and the fear that might cause. 

this is a film more for the audience to discover as this is definitely an Avant Garde presentation  and everyone will have a different reaction to the film or get something out of it differently than another person as it is that audacious. It tries to answer most of the questions but leaves some more ambiguous.

It also tries while dealing with these issues and subjects to be a character study for each member of the ensemble. As we wonder what fuels them and at times they’re blatant cruelty towards one another.

One will admit there are many times when I was confused as to what exactly was going on. As the film sets up some mysteries that are explained in others that aren’t quite though leads you on the path to some kind of answer. It’s that type of film.

Well, just as when we think we have figured it out or we have gotten all the answers we get another point of view on a character or a relationship that totally changes our initial opinions.

Ben Hunter who plays Dylan comes across the strongest here, but it might be because his character is also written as the biggest in the loudest, but you can tell there’s a vulnerability underneath all his bravado.

By the end, the film definitely gives the audience something to think about which it also offers throughout the film while also throwing them off base and leaving them to wander and think throughout

Grade: B- 

L’ARGENT (1983)

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Written & Directed By: Robert Bresson

Based on the story “FAUX BILLET” By: Leo Tolstoy

Cinematography: Pasqualino Desantis and Emmanuel Machuel

Editor: Jean-Francois Naudon 

Cast: Christian Patey, Vincent Risterucci, Caroline Lang, Sylvie Vanden Elsen, Michael Briguet, Marc Ernest Fourneau, Jean-Frederic Ducasse 

A counterfeit bill that starts off as a schoolboy prank leads to incarceration and violence.

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Now will admit at first I thought this was going to be a kind of anthology like TWENTY BUCKS (1993) where a counterfeit bill is passed amongst many different people and we see the different experiences an adventures that come with this bill and passing it along if you haven’t seen that film I highly recommend it 

Here I would say that the first third of that of this film plays like that were a fraudulent counterfeit bill is past amongst many other others, though here it seems that after passing through a few people and us seeing their various adventures with the bill it seems to the fate of one particular character throughout 

As because of this bill in a few others that come into his possession that he has no idea our counterfeit it starts a down slide for him of losing his job going to jail his wife, leaving him all because of things that he can’t control and fats of chance

Where he does run into characters who also have experience with this bill, though he doesn’t know that they have as we see some characters further adventures because of the bill, not necessarily with the bill so they all seem to circle back, and it seems throughout while most of the characters are kind of crooked, not surely evil just morally challenged him as the most honest out of them seems to be punished the most

Most of the actors throughout this film are not professionally trained actors, which helps give the film a realism. What also makes the film so memorable is not that so much. It’s a moral film, but it’s a third act which just seems cruel and tragic. 

That goes for realism and reminds us that the world isn’t fair nor is it a fairytale where there are happy endings for everyone.

This is why me of those films that might seem rough but managed convey so much with so little. The map of the human soul and how society can be so cruel to some. When individuals try to cut corners or push the blame onto someone else rather then admit to their own mistakes.

This film is a French film, classic for a reason. It is definitely hard hitting, especially when you don’t expect it to. It has assertive charm and polished to it, but it also stays melancholy and matter fact throughout. Most of the cast are non-professional actors which helps it all feel more real and was Director Robert Bresson’s style. This was also his last film and truly feels like a loss by the end and only adds to the sting of the ending. 

it also seems to move briskly, smooth and gets straight to the point. Though it still leaves you devastated. 

Grade: A-

ELLA MCCAY (2025)

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Written & Directed By: James L. Brooks

Cinematography: Robert Elswit

Editor: Tracy Wadmore-Smith 

Cast: Ella Mackey, Woody Harrelson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Albert Brooks, Julie Kavner, Ayo Edebiri, Kumail Nanijani, Jack Lowden, Spike Fearn, Rebecca Hall, 

An idealistic young woman juggles her family and work life in a comedy about the people you love and how to survive them.

I really wanted to enjoy this film. As I have grown up watching James L. Brooks films or productions, not to mention Emma Mackey in one of her first big screen leading roles after making such an impact on the series SEX EDUCATION

but this was a film that was hard to take.

It might be as it is so idealistic. It would have worked in the 1950’s or before, but in today’s political climate. It comes across as more of a dream. A high concept movie that might have come along or been passable in the 1980’s but feels grating and off rhythm in today’s cinema. 

While it’s nice to watch a film that is idealistic and not so cynical in today’s climate. It can still be interesting, which unfortunately this film isn’t. It lacks an ingredient even though it has plenty of energy .  

The film feels overwritten. As one of the characters says in the movie “You don’t have to articulate everything” one wishes the movie had taken its own advice.  

As the film plays like more of a theatrical piece for the stage, especially with the characters saying their feelings out loud to one another. Theme there are so many plot threads that luckily revolve around the main character. So that they lead into one another. 

It ends up feeling way too scripted an never natural. So that the characters have all these neurosis. Though they never Come across as natural or believable. They are slaves to the directions of the screenplay

One can understand Writer/Director Brooks is doing what he does best and aiming for an old school classic dramatic comedy that is more grounded and adult. Like the One’s he might have grown up with. Which is similar to his last big screen film HOW DO YOU KNOW. Though as that film was star studded but a bomb. This is truly worse than that film. As it is questionable what he saw in this story or film.

The film feels endless and boring after awhile. Where you get to the point where you don’t care what happens, you just want the film to end. 

There Also seems to be some scenes missing as it sets up a romance for two characters. Which is obvious, but we never actually see them pursue it or watch it grow to show their chemistry. It’s implied and then in the end even them being a couple is presented in the same way. Was it controversial as it would be interracial? It’s just strange especially in a film that fees the need to over explain Everything else. That it gets modest there or leaves the audience to figure it out. As maybe the filmmaker feels he has been there way too many times before.

It plays like a romantic comedy but then tries to present itself as a comedic character study?

It’s ultimately like the film isn’t sure in which direction it should be or even wants to go. 

Though luckily it fits into James L. Brooks filmography pedigree. Just not up to the quality of his previous works. 

Grade: D

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN AMERICA (2024)

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Directed By: Samir Oliveros 

Written By: Samir Oliveros and Maggie Briggs 

Story By: Amanda Freedman 

Cinematography: Pablo Lozano 

Editor: Sebastian Hernandez 

Cast: Paul Walter Hauser, Walton Goggins, Maise Williams, David Straitharn, Shamier Anderson, Johnny Knoxville, Brian Geraghty, Shaunte Renne Wilson, Damien Young, Patti Harrison, Haley Bennett, Genesis Rodriguez 

May 1984. An unemployed ice cream truck driver steps onto the game show Press Your Luck harboring a secret: the key to endless money. But his winning streak is threatened when the bewildered executives uncover his real motivations.

I know most of the story just from articles and watching the short documentary on the case and the character on Netflix. BIG BUCKS: THE PRESS YOUR LUCK SCANDAL. The only truth it seems to keep is the memorizing of the patterns of the game board to win.

The story that this film tells has been in development hell since 2000. When bill murray was attached to the film, before aging out and dropping interest in it. 

The film of course didn’t have enough time nor the budget to tell the whole story in multiple events and days that this actually happened during hand on different shows so instead condenses it mostly all into one day and the film taking place in one studio do more to probably the production constraints

The film has a very impressive cast of actors all likable they hear they seem thrown into this production that means well, but ultimately comes across like a TV movie on the subject only with foul language allowed in.

As the film keeps going along at first you wonder is this supposed to be more of a character piece or what is his motivation truly and what it all about while the film shows the slippery politics have not only show business but also production as we see the reaction to his winning from the exact to the behind the scenes production staff to the other contestants, the host and partly the audience, and finally where the film really gets emotional at its heart is in the final 10 to 15 minutes of the film

It’s great to see Paul Walter Hauser have another leading man role as a kind of lovable misfit out there who has tons of get rich, quick schemes, and this one finally might actually pay off that he believes will help solve everything, but only seems to help rip it apart even more.

You only wish the actors had a better film or were given a better script overall or at least a slightly bigger production to be in

It’s a satisfying story, especially if you’ve never heard it before and will induce you to do your own research more into the story but other than that, it’s one of these stories that you feel should’ve been done better or been at least illustrated a little bit better. it’s none of the actor‘s fault who all rise in the occasion. It’s just that by the end it doesn’t quite feel as satisfying as it should, though by the end, it does hit an emotional level. That is unexpected.

Grade: C+ 

SWEET DREAMS (2024)

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Written & Directed By: Lije Sarki

Story By: Eric Gross

Cinematography: Sing Howe Yam

Editor: Ken O’Keefe

Cast: Johnny Knoxville, Mohammed Amer, Gata, Bobby Lee, Brian Van Holt, Theo Von, Jay Mohr, Kate Upton, Beth Grant, Jon Park, Anderson Paak 

The film Follows Morris, who must coach a misfit softball team of his fellow housemates during his mandatory stay at Sweet Dreams sober living in order to get his life back on track.

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This is one of those films where you love the message and the characters more than the film or the filmmaking 

There isn’t much to this film. It’s pretty straightforward. It’s a film about a man was reach the end of his rope who has gone to rehab many times before and this is truly his last chance. The only difference is that the character is played by Johnny Knoxville (which truth be told is what attracted me to watching this film as I do have a soft spot for him as an actor and otherwise) 

Meanwhile, this film is a comedy drama. This is so far the most dramatic. I have seen him in a film and he is believable.

Though most of the rest of the cast that seem to be his roommates at this halfway house, rehab are mostly played by stand-up comedians in podcasts who have very few dramatic moments and are more there to lean into the quirks of their characters that makes them lovable losers.

It feels like a film that was made with a bunch of friends on weekends and trying to tackle a serious subject with humor and more of a homespun philosophy. As the cast seems more made up by someone signing onto the film and slowly recruiting comedians and their friends to appear in the film.While filming at what looks to be the same house, they filmed the television show 6 FEET UNDER in. 

The film is predictable yet. It’s fun. He tries to take a hard look at addiction and really, the aftermath the high, the lows the pains of recovery, especially freshly recovered. Also shows you that it’s a small world. We’re all trying to get over something. There is no ultimate answer . All you can do is just like in life take a day by day. See you where it takes you and deal with it as it comes.

The only difference here with this film is that as an activity they all focus on a softball tournament that will give them prize money that will of course help save the house so while the story rings of convenience, it is an interesting character study as far as the lead goes It has a 3 act structure is kind of a crowd pleaser and more focuses on the lead.

It’s watchable and it’s fun and affecting while you’re watching it. It’s not great filmmaking but it’s table filmmaking and it’s a cute little film. No, it’s not anything you haven’t seen before. It’s worth a watch, though. I can’t really say there’s anything special about it. 

Grade: C

100 YEN LOVE (2014)

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Directed By: Masaharu Take

Written By: Shin Adachi

Cinematography: Hiromitsu Nishimura

Editor: Chieko Suzaki

Cast: Sakura Ando, Hirofumi Arai, Yozaburo Ito, Miyoko Inagawa, Saori, Yuki Okita, Kaito Yoshimura, Shohei Uno 

32-year-old Ichiko lives at home with her parents, passing the days in self-indulgent grunginess. Ichiko’s recently divorced younger sister Fumiko has moved back home with her young son. One day, after a particularly heated argument, Ichiko charges out of the house for good. With few employment options to support herself, Ichiko works the night shift at a 100 yen shop (dollar store). On her way home each day she passes a boxing gym where she watches Yuji Kano silently practice, developing a crush on him. The pair starts seeing each other and things change for Ichiko… At last, the bell rings and longtime loser Ichiko’s rematch with life begins!

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This is a coming-of-age tale that comes later in life for our lead character. Who simply has not only dropped out of college, but seems to have dropped out of life as all she seems to do is smoke play video games eat badly and take up space rather than actually do anything that helps anyone else or might even help herself.

Once she is thrown out, she has to grow up and little by little she does at first it seems like it’s gonna go easily, but along the way it gets tougher and things never quite work out the way you expect

The film also shows how hard it is to be a woman in society at times. as even a scene of sexual assault in the aftermath isn’t sensationalized it’s dealt with matter fact, but more low-key than anything. This is also a movie about motivation. We watch this characters and it can be infectious for the audience also as a kind of feel good film that is a bit more realistic, and therefore identify.

Throughout the film, she’s disrespected by her coworkers, even by her boyfriend, but as she gains more confidence in herself and learns to take care of herself, she also gains more respect .

The film Isn’t sentimental.

Not going to lie. This is a slow burn of a movie so if you’re looking for something more fast paced and more of a conventional comedy you’ve come to the wrong place. As this film more goes along with kind of a dead pan vibe whereas at times. It’s more comedic and other times it plays more dramatic and even at times it’s even over the top. No it does manage to keep surprising you for the better and more realistic. Though it is awkward throughout. 

That what keeps you going is to watch the main characters journey and her adventures. 

As you wanna see her conqueror and duo, especially as we have witnessed so many loads, she has had to go through just to re-bottom and finally start fighting for herself.

as this is essentially more of a hangout movie and that moves a little more often than those films do and deals with more locations.

This Japanese movie even ended up being remade in China to a much bigger box office. I haven’t seen the remake but just from the trailer. It looks a little more conventional and motivational than this film, which comes across more as an independent comedy drama.

Grade: B-

PEAKY BLINDERS: THE IMMORTAL MAN (2026)

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Directed by: Tom Harper

Written By: Steven Knight

Cinematography: George Steel and Ben Wilson 

Editor: Mack Eckersley 

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Tim Roth, Barry Keoghan, Stephen Graham, Rebecca Feguson, Sophie Rundle, Packy Lee, Jay Lycurgo

During World War II, Tommy Shelby returns to a bombed Birmingham and becomes involved in secret wartime missions based on true events, facing new threats as he reckons with his past and rising national stakes.

For me, this is the first cillian murphy movie and performance. I’ve seen in which he’s played the lead so while there is more action, it still seems like he’s going with that moody cerebral acting with less dialogue and more everything is told through physicality in his facial expressions and seeming melancholy

It’s dipped into atmosphere and history thst helps shape it and enriches the material that makes it feel deep.  It sure if it’s as satisfying for the audience as it feels more for the creators. Very few characters from the show return which is a bit of a bummer.

If looking more for the gangster aspects of the characters and show or in general. You might be disappointed

All this emotion and dread fits yet gets to be overbearing. As it seems to be more what Cillian Murphy seems to enjoy and be into

with some elements of an underworld story. 

More about the machinations behind the scenes with double crosses and betrayal more at the heart of things. That as slays has a twist at the end. That makes up to how long it took to get there. 

It’s not bad to just expect bigger and better. Rather than settling for the same almost. Only like a shortened season with less of the original cast members. Though some good gust stars to help you forget and it ends the character of Thomas Shelby’s story.

No, I will say this is more made for fans of the show rather than people just coming into the characters. As it doesn’t quite exactly work as a gangster film on its own, especially when it has such a huge history, six seasons of it really.

this seems to be the ultimate series finale that at least part of me could’ve done without as I liked how the show ended for the most part. So in unless they plan on doing the next generation, I believe this might be the end of it all even though they made it seem like there would be a bunch of movies. At least we got six seasons and a movie. Which currently the show COMMUNITY is trying to fulfill that promise

Give the film a chance, but if you’re going to wait around for action, you might be disappointed

Grade: B- 

MANODROME (2023)

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Written & Directed By: John Trengove 

Cinematography: Wyatt Garfield 

Editor: Julie Monroe and Matthew Swanepoel

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Adrien Brody, Ethan Suplee, Odessa Young, Lamar Johnson, Philip Ettinger, Sallieu Sesay, Evan Jongigent, Caleb Eberhardt 

Conflicted about his girlfriend’s pregnancy, Ralphie’s life spirals out of control when he meets a mysterious family of men.

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Manodrome is a film with a cast far too good for the material they’re strapped to. What begins as though it might tackle the incel phenomenon, the so-called male-loneliness epidemic, or even the seductive pull of male-only cults, quickly turns into a character study of a protagonist we’re never truly allowed to know. Instead of insight, we get glimpses, most of them involving Jesse Eisenberg screaming or pumping iron under red-headed territory. so glaring it almost feels like an emotional shortcut. Are we supposed to feel sympathetic simply because he’s a ginger giant now?

The film flirts with psychological depth but never commits. It gestures toward big themes: masculinity vs. femininity, queer repression, emotional stunting in men, but abandons each just as quickly. There are moments where it feels like the film might actually be about a closeted man’s struggle for comfort in his own skin; then it swerves back into gym-bro asceticism. It raises the question of what the film thinks its own subject is: toxic masculinity, queer panic, vulnerability, male bonding, or just the world’s most intense Fitness recruitment video?

Eisenberg’s character seems written as a case study in emotional volatility, desperate for attention, terrified of receiving it, pushing away anyone who offers care, and ultimately betrayed by the one person he lets in. But because the script avoids true psychological exploration, these behaviors drift into abstraction. They happen, but they’re never grounded. We observe him, but we’re not invited to understand him.

Technically, the film is competent sometimes striking. The cinematography aims for a chilly, Lanthimos-adjacent precision, but without the thematic or tonal control to justify the comparison. Scenes play out with an almost clinical frankness, hinting at a sharper, more daring film beneath the surface. 

You can’t help but wonder what Manodrome might have become under the guidance of a director truly adept at blending psychological discomfort with stylistic purpose. Yorgos Lanthimos comes to mind simply because he excels at exactly the things this movie only imitates.

Meanwhile, the supporting cast feels underused. Adrien Brody, who once won an Oscar for throwing himself into the void emotionally, seems here to be collecting an easy paycheck. Eisenberg, a former nominee himself, does admirable work inside a role that ultimately gives him little to explore besides a ringtone so annoying you begin to suspect it’s the film’s real antagonist.

Every twenty minutes the movie seems to reinvent itself, without ever improving. The plot wanders, the tone shifts, and by the end you’re not sure the film knows what it wanted to be in the first place. For all its supposed psychological weight, Manodrome proves surprisingly hollow, a film that demands interpretation but offers little reward for the effort.

these are some of the thoughts I had while watching the film…

It would be brilliant if this whole man cult plan was just a financial scheme to build a members only gym

I don’t know if it’s the movie or how many times we hear it. Jesse Eisenberg’s character has the most annoying ringtone 

In the end, it’s a puzzle that doesn’t feel worth solving. You’re free to skip it; you won’t be missing anyone’s best or even notable work.

Grade: D+

CANDYLAND (2022)

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Written & Directed By: John Swab

Cinematography: Will Stone

Editor: Andrew Aronson and John David Allen 

Cast: Olivia Luccardi, Eden Brolin, Sam Quartin, Owen Campbell, Virginia Rand, William Baldwin, Guinevere Turner, Brad Carter

A seemingly naive and devout young woman navigates her way into the underground world of truck stop sex workers a.k.a. “lot lizards.”

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This is a film that pulls no punches, especially when it begins. It’s going into the film wasn’t quite sure where it was going to go even though watching it on shutter suspected a horror film but it seems like for the first third of the film. It’s more of a drama.

Even though considering where the film ends up going. It seems a bit unnecessary to be so graphic, but sets up the unpredictable nature and showing it’s Not afraid to go certain places 

That throughout the film, always seems to stay open as it offers a host of many ways it can go. As throughout the film. There seems to be a clash of genres as it starts off matter fact, drama that has a murder mystery in the background when initial killings start to happen. as it also feels kind of like a misdirection at first, but when the killer is revealed, we are shocked, but watch their ways as they try to avoid getting caught, though we do wonder when they will strike again also. Even as the film still stays pretty dramatic with the killings involved as we began to truly care about the characters.

Though slowly, the narrative becomes a true horror thriller. As the film keeps changing its identity I guess sort of like the characters there’s the before and then there’s a after.

as at first, there were so many ways that it could’ve gone and thought it would go, but ultimately it ends up, not going there. It makes its own way, which works for the film. Only wish maybe the killer wasn’t revealed as soon as they were crow that they played up the mystery angle a little bit better and longer.

The film does have an interesting scene of a red herring that is graphic and hard hitting, but also shows you the dangers of the lives. They lead and their line of work and offers a humanity more to the characters and helps to show the depths of one of the relationships between the characters and how messed up it is even when seeking justice in doing the right thing

As the film play so many rules just as the characters do one minute it’s a hangout film the max. It’s a hard hitting docudrama, then a mystery then a slasher then at times even a Grindhouse film that tries to tie in Christmas randomly. Though it occasionally breaks up its own rhythm. It’s trying to show that it’s moving into a new phase. Wish it could have been a bit more seamless And tightly written. So it made more sense. It does go to show that just because one thing is happening, that doesn’t mean other things stop irnchange necessarily with the new situation 

For all of its good graces by the end, it feels a little bit like a b-movie, even though it tries to hit hard with the ending.

The film manages to stay unpredictable in the end doesn’t go where you expect those stays down with an ultimate come uppance.

By the end, the theme seems to be sexual repression and how violent it can make someone.

Grade: C+