Matthew Liedke

REVIEW: ‘Novocaine’ is an action-comedy knockout

There’s no pain for the main character in this film and there’s no pain for the audience either, because this one is quite enjoyable..

Jack Quaid stars in “Novocaine” as assistant bank manager, Nathan Caine. On top of being rather mild mannered and introverted, he also lives with congenital insensitivity to pain, meaning he can get hurt, but not feel a thing. Internally, though, he does feel attraction to one of his co-workers, Sherry.

After finally going out on a date with her (Amber Midthunder), things seem to be looking up. That is until the bank he works at is robbed and Sherry is abducted. On a quest to get her back, Caine uses his inability to feel pain to fight back against those behind the heist.

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97th Academy Award Predictions

Oscar Sunday has finally arrived and it’s time to honor the best films of 2024, for the most part.

Awards will be handed out to winners in more than 20 categories, and like always, I’m going to do my best to predict who gets a statue. Additionally, as I’ve done annually, I also include the possible spoiler in the category, as well as my takes on who should win and what deserved to make the cut.

Find out my expectations for every category during tonight’s ceremony.

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2025 Oscar Docs: A Look at the Nominees

Most award seasons I try to see all five of the Oscar nominated documentaries. However, February turned into a busy month, and one of the movies, “No Other Land,” was only playing at a single theater and it was difficult to find a showtime to see it. It was also unavailable to stream.

That was the same case with “Porcelain War,” which wasn’t streaming and also had zero theatrical showings in the great state of Minnesota. Fortunately, I was able to at least se three of the nominees and can give my thoughts on them ahead of the ceremony.

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Animation at the 97th Oscars: A Recap

The full length animation category in the Academy Awards line-up often features a mix of smaller releases and major productions.

That was the case this year, with two widely released pictures from Pixar and DreamWorks, along with three that were released directly via streaming and/or made by smaller studios. In the lead-up to this year’s ceremony, having seen “The Wild Robot” and “Inside Out 2,” I caught up on the other three.

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REVIEW: New ‘Captain America’ is more bland than brave

This film is the culmination of an origin movie from over a decade ago. “Captain America: The First Avenger?” No, 2008’s “Incredible Hulk.”

“Brave New World” picks up a few years after the events of the “Falcon and Winter Soldier” series. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is now Captain America and he is assisted in missions by a sidekick, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez). The film picks up with Sam and friends attending an event at the White House where General Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) is now president.

During the event, an attempted assassination takes place and a friend of Sam’s is framed. Captain America sets off in the aftermath to clear his friend’s name and bring the plotters to justice, before world relations breakdown as several nations are also vying for a new valuable mineral.

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REVIEW: Mishandled tone makes ‘Heart Eyes’ a disappointment

The mask worn by the villain in this slasher is certainly great. The rest of the movie? Not quite so much.

The antagonist in this film shares the name of the movie itself. Heart Eyes is a serial killer who has been on a rampage the last few years, killing several couples on Valentine’s Day. The film picks up again on Valentine’s Day in the present, centering on a Seattle-based marketing professional named Ally (Olivia Holt).

Because of trouble at work and her single status, she’s not too excited for the holiday. Things only get more complicated when she meets Jay (Mason Gooding), a new colleague she has chemistry with, but sees as a work rival. Unfortunately, the two are mistaken as a couple by Heart Eyes and now have to go on the run from the killer.

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Top 10 Films of 2024

Nearly a month has passed since the end of 2024.

However, there were a number of films yours truly needed to watch before feeling entirely comfortable making a Top 10 list. Well, a few days into February and I can say that I’ve seen just about all I need to see for a fair assessment on last year’s cinematic slate.

To be completely honest, last year was a bit disappointing in comparison to 2023, which had a much stronger lineup. But there were still quite a few good flicks released that deserve recognition. Like most years, first up is the honorable mentions before the top 10.

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REVIEW: Angelina Jolie is at her absolute best in ‘Maria’

For the third time in a decade, director Pablo Larraín has helmed a biographical film about a complex woman, and like the other two, it’s one of the year’s best.

Larraín previously directed 2016’s “Jackie” about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and 2021’s “Spencer” which centered on Princess Diana. His latest is about the opera singer Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie), though it takes place mainly after her illustrious career.

The movie focuses on the last week of the singer’s life, and explores how she was reflective of a career that she lost. Over time, her voice began to fail her, which caused her to leave her profession, and later her health began declining as well. The film is about the culmination of this, with her still at times trying to sing, while looking at the past and dealing with health issues.

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REVIEW: ‘Hard Truths’ has stirring drama but scope is limited

“Hard Truths” is a title that works for this movie. Others could have been “Mean Truths,” “Pessimistic Truths” or “Negative Truths.”

That’s because the main character in this film, Pansy Deacon (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), is dealing with depression, resentment and grief, which has manifested in aggression. Pansy is often in a state of frustration or anger, and it results in outbursts toward both family and strangers alike.

Much of this stems from conflicted feelings toward her late mother. This has caused a strain in her marriage to her husband Curtley (David Webber) and relationship with her son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett). The one person she still manages to confide in usually is her sister, Chantelle (Michele Austin).

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REVIEW: Gere lifts Schrader’s middling drama ‘Oh, Canada’

The film may be named “Oh, Canada,” but a great deal of the drama in this takes place south of that nation’s border.

“Oh Canada,” from director Paul Schrader, centers on documentary filmmaker and professor Leo Fife (Richard Gere), an American who moved to Canada to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War. The film picks up with Leo, now a terminal cancer patient, being interviewed by a former student.

Now a documentary filmmaker himself, Malcolm (Michael Imperioli), is interviewing Leo for a movie about the man’s decision to avoid Vietnam and his award-winning film career. However, as Leo begins to reflect on his personal life as he is asked about various points in his past.

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