Shelby Oaks

A video game cut scene of a movie, where every moment moves the plot backwards. You can definitely tell this was directed by a Youtuber and it hurts. It’s like Chris wanted to throw bits and pieces of every horror movie he liked into one. All that crowdfunded money made for one of the blandest stories and worst looking horror films of the decade.

0.4/5

No Other Choice

You know how chaotic Horrible Bosses is? Well take that to a whole nother level where Park Chan-wook masterfully breaks open what it feels like to be on a job hunt in today’s working world. This is cartoonish, offbeat, rare, and his transitions that will blow your mind in all the best ways.

4.3/5

The Secret Agent

Reverting back to high school math for this review. Imagine a bell curve on a graph and then flip it upside down. The first portion is so intriguing, and it quickly turns into something so uninteresting and bizarre. Wagner Moura is quietly impressive and I’m thrilled that the end of the movie turns everything around.

3/5

Nuremberg

I was very scared this entire movie would be a courtroom drama, but luckily it’s only some of it. This film is so fascinating because of its history and hard truths. Rami Malek is likeable and fierce, Russell Crowe can play a Nazi too well, and everyone else is a killer. Should be contender for many things but will be forgotten in the ether of 2025 releases, which is a real shame.

3.4/5

Keeper

Sleeper. Osbad Perkins. Whatever funny pun you want to use, works here. It was trying so hard to be original that it felt too familiar, and familiar here actually means second-rate.

1/5

K-POP Demon Hunters

The movie itself is very very average, but I could feel the phenomena behind it from the jump. A majority of the songs are bangers and some actually gave me goosebumps. I loved the mix in animation style that was used and the main characters are a lot of fun to live with for the runtime as it exists. I wouldn’t hate seeing more movies like this, but for once the songs overshadowed the message.

3.3/5

Springsteen

A complete nothing of a biopic. It’s never exciting or interesting and it chose a time in Bruce’s life that either felt like 1 month or 10 years, but it was impossible to tell. This also felt like a story of a man who wasn’t famous at the time of this story, or ever, so I was unsure why this was even told, espcially now. (I know he is very famous but this movie doesn’t convey that in the slightest)

2.6/5

Jay Kelly

A movie where George Clooney is basically playing himself should have felt so felt hoity-toity,  instead it is one of the most endearing sotires of the year. Noah Baumbach deliciously unfolds a journey that had every ounce of my attention. It is one of the few films this year that made me chuckle, cry, and drop my jaw throughout. The screenplay is tremendous and the ensemble cast is a sight to behold.

I will add that I’m thrilled to see Adam Sandler in more dramatic roles, but we’ve got to calm down on the Best Supporting Actor train.

4.2/5


Song Sung Blue

Hugh Jackson and Kate Hudson are the most impressive actors that can sing, well with each other, that we have this year. Outside of their singing, they did feel a little out of place in these roles. For something that was a biopic, it felt like much more of a fantasy when it clearly wanted to tell a more down to earth story. If I was a Neil Diamond fan, I would have loved this movie, I think.

2.4/5

The Testament of Ann Lee

Amanda, Fucking. Seyfried. WOW her voice is so incredible and whatever type of singing you want to call this, is her wheelhouse for sure. There were moments that gave me chills and I was wrapped up in the symmetrical displays of cinematography. I do my best to care when it comes to religion in any form of a story, but here it comes off as a little posturing (even if it’s historically accurate). The repetitive nature was overstimulating to say the least.

In the words of my finance “I can admire a movie without liking it”

2.9/5