3.5 stars out of 5
I was initially disappointed learning that this wasn’t a feature length exploration of Richie Cunningham’s fake fraternity, Mama Papa Sister. But I was even more disappointed to discover that this is Jim Jarmusch’s most boring film by a long shot.
Now, I love Jim Jarmusch, going back to his 1980s triumphs Stranger Than Paradise, Down by Law, and Mystery Train (the first movie of his I saw in a theater). And he hasn’t let me down since: Night on Earth, Ghost Dog (loved Ghost Dog!!), Broken Flowers, even the challenging Limits of Control. In the past decade-plus I loved Only Lovers Left Alive, thought Paterson was perfection, and was even delighted by the generally panned zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die. His movies are cool, stylish, grungey. Saxophones and coffee and cigarettes and darkened streets. Hell, I own the soundtracks to at least four of his flicks.
I certainly don’t mind Jarmusch trying something new, because he always has. But focusing on aging parents of the upper middle class? Leave that to EVERY OTHER WRITER/DIRECTOR OF A CERTAIN AGE, Jim. You’re better than that! (Oops sorry, my caps lock was stuck.)
This is an anthology, like Mystery Train and Night on Earth. The only reason I was sad to find that out: I was looking forward to an entire movie of Tom Waits. (At least memorizing 110 pages of dialogue would be a decent excuse for still not making a new album.) First of three stories is Adam Driver and Mayim Bialik (hey why not) visiting their down-and-out dad Waits. Second is an adorably nerdy Cate Blanchett and Vicky Krieps (who I thought was superb in Phantom Thread and Hold Me Tight) visiting Charlotte Rampling. And third is I don’t know and I don’t know (I was getting a little sleepy by this point, sorry) visiting their dead parents’ apartment.
We see common themes of estrangement, sibling rivalry, and pretending you’re something that you’re not. These are high-quality actors and Jarmusch puts them in recognizable situations. Wow, I could feel sitting there with grown children Adam and Mayim as the room gets darker and the afternoon gets longer thinking “When can I leave.” There are a few laughs too. It’s not a bad movie; it’s a pretty good movie, but it’s very very talky and not particularly compelling. And for Jarmusch, that’s a letdown. I feel like Jimmy in Quadrophenia finding out Ace Face is now a bellboy. Now that was a cool movie!
Movie Review: Father Mother Sister Brother
My Highly Subjective List of the Best Films of 2025
Call me optimistic, call me someone who makes claims based on anecdotal evidence, “Call me… irresponsible…,” but I feel like maybe, maybe people are starting to go to movie theaters a little more? Like, I’ve been at crowded screenings recently that in the past few years would’ve just been me and my medium popcorn.
Here are the best new theatrical releases that I saw last year. Annual caveats: I didn’t see everything I wanted to see, and you and I might like different movies and we’re both right.
10) 28 Years Later This sequel to 28 Days Later was only 23 years later, but reunited director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland (whose Warfare appears elsewhere on this list). Of course we get lots of zombie action and scares, plus some laughs. But the movie also has emotional heft thanks to a strong performance from 12-year-old newcomer Alfie Williams and a bizarre-looking Ralph Fiennes.
9) The Phoenician Scheme Classic Wes Anderson in the form of a road picture/antihero’s quest. It’s a satire of oligarchs and theocracy, tackling redemption and forgiveness, and the meaning of family, all blended up in an old-fashioned screwball comedy. Plus appearances by every star who’s ever been in a Wes Anderson movie.
8) Bugonia Director Yorgos Lanthimos returns with a satire of both corporate America and of conspiracy culture, with his 2024 Kinds of Kindness dream team intact: Emma Stone note-perfect as a cold-blooded but always smiling CEO who always knows what to say, and Jesse Plemons nearly matching her as an aluminum-foil-on-the-windows The Truth Is Out There type. It’s fun, funny, keeps you guessing, and Lanthimos totally sticks the landing.
7) Sinners Writer/director Ryan Coogler pulls out all the stops in this super entertaining (and yes, eventually pretty violent) horror flick that is a whole lot more! Perhaps he was inspired working again with his muse Michael B. Jordan, who plays twin brothers who open a juke joint in the old-timey south. We’re dealing with religion vs. sin, city vs. country, and a head-on battle with racism and discrimination. Oh and SUPERNATURAL BEINGS. And music sweet music. There is a performance by breakout cast member Miles Caton that is absolutely hypnotic, placing the blues securely in its place in the history — past, present, and future — of black music.
6) Frankenstein Like some sort of mad doctor, the amazing Guillermo del Toro stitches together Mary Shelley’s classic novel with bits of the 1931 Hollywood classic film and some of his very own ingenuity to create this highly satisfying movie! Oscar Isaac is excellent, taking Dr. Victor Frankenstein from driven to obsessed to a God complex to madness and desperation. And rising star Jacob Elordi is perfectly cast as The Creature: a beautiful face that uncannily looks a bit like Boris Karloff’s Monster.
5) Sorry, Baby How great to have a fresh, smart, funny voice in Eva Victor, who also stars in her debut feature as writer and director. The tragic story could’ve been maudlin in less-skilled hands, but Victor gently shows us how awful events change us but that we can also slowly carry on, navigating through idiocy and occasional sweetness.
4) The Secret Agent Writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho crafts a thinking person’s thriller based in the real-life military dictatorship and government corruption of 1977 Brazil. Wagner Moura is excellent as the latest resident in a community of political refugees. The director includes a few Lynchian touches which for me is value added!
3) Warfare My boy Alex Garland (Civil War, Annihilation, Ex Machina) co-wrote and co-directed this no-nonsense, stellar piece of filmmaking: 95 tight minutes, showing a harrowing incident that took place in 2006 during the Iraq War, in real time, based solely on the recollections of the Navy SEAL participants. I was really impressed with the portrayal of soldiers relying on their training, chain of command, standard procedures (and necessary improvisation), and care for each other when the shit goes down.
2) Marty Supreme Sometimes at the movies you just want to be entertained, and Marty Supreme was a non-stop blast. It felt like After Hours set in the world of 1950s table tennis and with a willing protagonist. With a different lead actor, scheming Marty might’ve been insufferable, but Timothée Chalamet puts this film on his back and absolutely carries it from start to finish.
1) Sentimental Value The writers, director, and star of 2021’s The Worst Person in the World return with an even better film, exploring the late stages in a nuclear family’s history with great emotional depth. As in Jay Kelly (see Honorable Mentions), this explores how professional ambition can damage personal relationships, and does it with more nuance. No other movie this year affected me as deeply.
Honorable mentions: One Battle After Another, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Blue Moon, Jay Kelly, The Long Walk, Weapons, The Naked Gun, Honey Don’t!
Worst movie: The Running Man
New releases I saw in a theater this year: 44 (including the superb 2024 international film The Seed of the Sacred Fig and the very good but not widely released till 2025 The Room Next Door)
My best-of lists from: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019,2018, 2017/16, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009
You can check out all my movie reviews by clicking here.
Movie Review: Is This Thing On?
3.5 stars out of 5
Alec Baldwin said it was the best movie of the year, and this was a slow New Year’s Day, so I found myself in a surprisingly crowded theater for Is This Thing On? Well, maybe Baldwin needs to see a few more films, but it was a decent, “grown-up” way to spend a couple of hours.
I guess the ideal audience for this movie is upper-middle-class divorced people with kids, just trying their best to make it through this crazy world. In other words, 90% of Hollywood. Director/co-writer/co-star Bradley Cooper is a divorced dude with a kid, same with co-writer/co-star WIll Arnett, and co-star Laura Dern is a divorced mom with kids. (Oh, Alec Baldwin? Divorced; kid.) So they were inspired by the true-life story of a British guy, separated from his wife, who took a stab at stand-up comedy.
Arnett (financial guy who we never once see at work) and Dern (retired Olympic volleyball player) are headed in different directions after 20 years of marriage and two sons, 10 and 11 years old. There’s still a lot of love around so it’s tough. The upper-middle-class thing is key (which I would’ve liked the script to acknowledge), because we see both partners grappling with the emotional and psychological aspects of separation, but the monetary issues, which can cripple so many, don’t come into play here. Oh, Will has to move out? No problem, he’ll just get a nice apartment in the city.
Arnett, who we learn was “always a funny guy,” stumbles into stand-up. Sharing tales from his own life, he finds it cathartic, and he improves as he goes. We get to once again (as we did in Louie, and Crashing, etc.) explore the world of New York City comedy clubs, and the camaraderie found there. (Hey, there’s Dave Atell, and Chloe Radcliffe.) Maybe Laura Dern can plug back into her passions too, though that kind of gets short shrift here.
The movie feels like we’re hanging out with friends. I can certainly see myself separated from Laura Dern. Arnett is very good; really captures the distracted look of one suffering from trauma. I see him either getting a surprise best actor nomination, or else a couple of articles mentioning he was snubbed. Cooper is a bearded stoned buddy, good for a laugh or honest talk. (The movie is pretty talky.) Amy Sedaris feels right as the Comedy Cellar manager. Sean Hayes is another buddy, and I’m sure they’re having good fun on Smartless, Jason Bateman all mock-hurt, “What, there wasn’t a role for me, pal?” I didn’t recognize Ciaran Hinds or Christine Ebersole as Will’s parents but they turn in nice small parts. There’s one bit of stunt casting that was initially jarring but worked out fine. And in product placement news, BUY A VOLKSWAGEN.
Is this thing on streaming? Not yet, but that’ll be a fine place to watch it.
New Year’s Resolutions 2026
1. Print up Mayor Zohran Mamdani t-shirts with slogan “Yo other cities: Who’s your Momdaddy?”
2. At self checkout, check myself out, ask if I come here often.
3. Do not rest until the Milano is the official cookie of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
4. Really put in some elbow grease to make a difference in my community; failing that, grease palms of local bigwigs.
5. Buy a house in the country. Which of the 195 countries? I don’t know, man, I got a year to decide.
6.
7. SIX SEVEN!!!
8. Convince ChatGPT to kill itself.
9. Boogie oogie oogie till I just can’t boogie no more; leave a few oogie oogies in the tank.
10. Work as makeup consultant for Erika Kirk during her complete transition into Tammy Faye Bakker.
11. Never forget that the midterms are in 307 days and counting. And counting on everyone I know to vote blue.
• My resolutions for 2025
• My resolutions for 2024
• My resolutions for 2023
• My resolutions for 2022
• My resolutions for 2021
• My resolutions for 2020
• My resolutions for 2019
• My resolutions for 2018
• My resolutions for 2017
• My resolutions for 2016
• My resolutions for 2015
• My resolutions for 2014
• My resolutions for 2013
• My resolutions for 2012
Movie Review: The Housemaid
3 stars out of 5
Paul Feig created Freaks and Geeks, one of the greatest TV series of all time. And yet, in his cinematic career, he doesn’t really seem to be swinging for the fences. If I were to cynically sum up his IMDb credits, I’d guess Feig has found a reliable paycheck helming movies that pander to a primarily female audience.
Admittedly, it was not Paul Feig’s name that first drew my attention to The Housemaid. It was the name Sydney Sweeney. I am a fan of Ms. Sweeney much like I was a fan of the recently-late nonagenarian Brigitte Bardot. And I’m a long-time fan of co-star/housemaid-hirer Amanda Seyfried. And yes, Feig is still on the “good” side of my ledger.
I thought Sweeney was very good in White Lotus and in Reality, both HBO projects. But here, under Feig’s aegis, I realized that she is not a very strong actress. Now, if this was a tight, lighter, 90-minute film, her acting prowess might’ve made less of a difference. But this is roughshod 2 hours and 11 minutes which feels even longer, and the flaws really stand out.
The plot: Wealthy Seyfried hires down-on-her-luck Sweeney to clean her big house, watch her young daughter, and not watch her hottie husband. Well, you know what happens next. And you don’t know what happens after that. There is fun and enjoyment here (Seyfried especially gets to have a good time), which is why it’s a shame that it’s not a better-made film.
Also, it looks like Feig had a budget of about 8 dollars. There are seemingly only two police officers in Nassau County, and they show up on three different occasions. Also, my beloved Rutt’s Hutt is a setting — which earns the movie a whole additional star — but I guess it’s one of the only places they could afford to film, because it shows up in what should’ve been three separate locations: 1) Sweeney gets stopped by THOSE TWO cops for sleeping in the parking lot, and we learn she’s basically living at Rutt’s, sink-shower in the restroom and eating a burger for god’s sake instead of a ripper. Yes, I ordered a cheesesteak there, but I wasn’t in a movie! 2) We have a flashback scene where she loses a job there. 3)Seyfried and daughter plot during a meal there.
The Housemaid is supposed to be a thriller but the most shocking thing is that it’s based on a book. Wow, that must be a crappy novel!
Movie Review: The Secret Agent
4.5 stars out of 5
I saw this movie, I liked it very much, but I still I don’t know who the secret agent is. However, the star is Wagner Moura who I thought was great in Civil War and is excellent here too. It’s 1977 in Brazil, and his character Marcelo (or perhaps he is Armando) is a former professor who has become an enemy of the state during the real-life military dictatorship and political corruption. He flees to his hometown Recife where he’s sheltered by the kindly elder Dona Sebastiana (a superb Tânia Maria, oozing a good heart) in a small community of political refugees. Just as in One Battle After Another, I like the idea that there’s a secret underground network to help you out when the shit goes down. Marcelo’s young son, who he’s been unwillingly estranged from, is there being raised by his late wife’s parents, adding another emotional layer to the story.
There are some cool Lynchian touches here and also a prominent cinema, leading me to believe that writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho (hey I got the thing under the c on my first try!) is a Filho-maker I need to check out more. He also does a skillful job slowly ratcheting up the tension as the situation becomes more dangerous for Marcelo/Armando. It’s a thinking person’s thriller.
Movie Review: Marty Supreme
4.5 stars out of 5
I knew very little about this movie going in. Was it a true story? (It is not, though was loosely inspired by a real person.) But Timothée Chalamet has earned my trust and watching him play ping-pong — excuse me, table tennis — sounded fun. So there I was in the theater on Christmas Eve, and my gift was a 2.5-hour, nonstop blast.
Chalamet is Marty Mauser, expert NYC shoe salesman and would-be international table tennis champion. It’s his destiny, and he’ll stop at nothing to get there! Oh but there are obstacles, and not just JAPANESE PING-PONG SUPERIORITY. Marty must also negotiate around his married girlfriend, unsupportive family, his attraction to married aging screen siren Gwyneth Paltrow, a lost dog, lack of money, and much, much more. It’s After Hours except with a fully willing protagonist and also, set in the world of 1950s ping-pong.
Chalamet wears the role perfectly, just like the period clothing hangs beautifully on his so-skinny frame. I anticipate a best-actor nomination, or at the very least, best mustache. Marty isn’t a great guy, he’s a charmer who uses people, but somewhere in there has an OK soul and you can’t help but root for him.
Josh Safdie is the director here and I thought this was a lot better than his Uncut Gems (which I did enjoy). Oh there is some jewelry in this too. Someone had a fantastic time casting various roles: Fran Drescher unrecognizable as Marty’s mom, Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary a convincing businessman as Gwyneth’s cuckolded hubby, Abel Ferrara, David Mamet, Levon Hawke, Phillippe Petit, Tracy McGrady, George Gervin, Kemba Walker, Tyler the Creator, Penn Jillette, Sandra Bernhard, my pal Chris Nelson from The Scene Is Now, a guy I met many years ago Ed Malone who posted something antisemitic and I unfriended him, Isaac Mizrahi. I spotted some and didn’t spot others.
Several ’80s songs on the soundtrack. Alphaville, etc. I’m not sure why. But they work in here just fine. And there’s a score by Daniel Lopatin of Oneohtrix Point Never, so that’s good too.
You still have a few days off. Go see it! Enjoy yourself.
Movie Review: Sentimental Value
5 out of 5 stars
I was very impressed with the 2021 film The Worst Person in the World, directed and co-written (with Eskil Vogt) by Joachim Trier and starring the charming Renate Reinsve. But I didn’t get to rank it among the year’s best, as Worst Person didn’t receive wider release until 2022. That won’t be a problem with Sentimental Value which was created by the same three people, and was released solidly in 2025 with time to spare. Spoiler: It will be at or near the top of my rankings.
The film explores the late stages in a nuclear family’s existence. Their house — their home — is actually presented as another main character here, as it has observed all the joy and sadness over generations. Mom has died; estranged dad Stellan Skarsgard returns. This complicates matters for the two grown daughters. Historian Agnes is married and has a son. In Worst Person, Reinsve’s character wondered whether to choose the married-with-kids track. Here, as sister Nora, she has not taken that route.
As another layer, Dad is an aging movie director of some acclaim. Nora is a TV and theater actress with a bad case of stage fright. Paging Dr. Freud! There are similarities to Jay Kelly here: Being feted leads to reflection for both late-career creatives, and they realize their younger ambition damaged relations with the children. Perhaps to mend fences, Dad presents Nora with a script he’s written for her and wants to direct. Could be his comeback! But Nora isn’t interested. Hey, fine, Dad will just cast American star Elle Fanning instead.
Another compelling aspect: Often it’s easier to express emotions through art than in real life.
Information is shared later in the story that brings things to a new dramatic level. I was deeply affected by this film, filled with excellent performances. And I hope the Joachim Trier Trio stays together.
Movie Review: The Running Man
2.5 stars out of 5
I like to go to the movies after Thanksgiving dinner. Clears my head. This year I wasn’t thrilled with my choices: Zootopia 2, Wicked for Good, Predator: Badlands, and The Running Man. Quickly narrowed it down to Predator and Running Man. I’d never seen the original version of either of them. But since there have been about 37 Predator predecessors, I figured I’d have less trouble with missed back story if I picked The Running Man.
I think I chose wrong.
Lest we think this was simply a paycheck for director/co-writer Edgar Wright, he seems to have been mostly drawn to goofy sci-fi since his Shaun of the Dead debut in 2004. (Though of what I’ve seen, the Sparks Brothers documentary is his strongest work.)
The Stephen King-conceived conceit is solid enough: Contestants on a dystopian game show try to avoid assassins. I would think the way to play this cinematically would be very straight and thrilling. But Wright goes broad, focusing on satirizing TV in the not-too-distant future. What an evil network head Josh Brolin is! That guy will do anything for ratings!
Glen Powell is also problematic. He is not a compelling leading man. We never really feel for him or his quest to win to get his wife and daughter out of poverty, squalor, and illness. So this just becomes an overlong series of set pieces, some more exciting than others, with some very blatant product placement. Sean Hayes is in this for a hot second, Martin “Please Don’t Destroy” Herlihy lasts slightly longer, and William H. Macy too. Colman Domingo gets more screen time, as does Michael Cera in a too-long sequence, and though I was happy to see rising star Emilia Jones show up, it was too little and way too late in The Running Man’s bloated running time.
Movie Review: Jay Kelly
4 stars out of 5
Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood. Sure, it is the absolute most cliched topic for a Hollywood writer to write about, but A) People who watch movies love movies, so it’s not too risky a subject to present, and B) Write what you know, and C) Noah Baumbach has been directing movies for 30 years and this is his first “look behind the scenes” so, let’s cut him some slack.
As if to rub our noses in the delightful meta-ness of it all, Noah has George Clooney playing Jay Kelly who is basically George Clooney. Sure, Clooney has often been categorized as an actor who always plays himself, and someone in the movie says that to Jay Kelly, who explains that it’s difficult to portray oneself. Point, Clooney! Uh, I mean, Kelly!
The supporting cast is fun and well-chosen. Adam Sandler may earn an Oscar nomination playing against type as Kelly’s long-suffering manager, a character at the crux of one of the movie’s throughlines: Can people be true friends if one is an employee of another? Two other staffers (who show the sacrifices that underlings make for a superstar, who made many sacrifices himself to become a superstar!) are the always great Laura Dern and, in a smaller role, Emily Mortimer who co-write the script with director Baumbach. Whew! Patrick Wilson, who is less famous than Clooney, plays an actor who is less famous than Kelly. Billy Crudup does the same. Stacy Keach has a great time as Kelly’s dad and it’s nice to see him. For those Baumbach-heads keeping score, Dean Wareham has a cameo; I didn’t see Britta but that doesn’t mean she’s not in it, as IMDb doesn’t list either of them. And Greta Gerwig (Mrs. Noah) has a larger role than Emily Mortimer as Adam Sandler’s long-suffering wife.
Those sacrifices made for career, they can lead to regret. That’s a topic here. And can long-busted fences be mended? Another topic. Which add some depth to a generally light and often amusing film. It’s insane that a movie about movies starring a big movie star — who might get nominated as Best Actor for basically playing himself but doing it really, really well — is going to be on Netflix so soon (December 5). Somebody make a movie about that!
Jack Silbert, curator