Category: 2025

REVIEW: ‘Last Breath’ is deep on suspense, shallow elsewhere

This film is somewhat paradoxical in that it gets about as low as you can go in terms of depth, but isn’t exactly deep.

In 2019 director Alex Parkinson released the documentary “Last Breath.” The film centered on an incident where a deep-sea diver tasked with repairing pipes was nearly lost when his umbilical cable snapped and he was left on the ocean floor. Parkinson has now followed that up with a feature length narrative film.

The movie showcases how Chris Lemons (Finn Cole) was cut off from the air supply on the seabed and ran out of oxygen. It also shows fellow divers Duncan (Woody Harrelson) and David (Simu Liu), as well as ship Captain Andre (Cliff Curtis) and repair supervisor Craig (Mark Bonnar) making rescue attempts.

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REVIEW: ‘Mickey 17’ is a clumsy creation from Bong Joon-ho

Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up to “Parasite” is unfortunately, no awards contender.

The latest from the South Korean filmmaker is a dark sci-fi action-comedy centered on the character Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson). Needing to flee Earth because of a loan shark, Mickey boarded a spacecraft to a new planet, and took a job known as Expendable, where he does repairs in awful conditions.

In the case of death, his memories and personality has been downloaded, and his body can be recreated, allowing him to live on. The movie picks up with Mickey now on body 17 and surviving a dangerous incident where he should have died. As a result, an 18th Mickey is made. In doing so, their combined presence alters the course of the future for the a space colony.

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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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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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