Category Archives: 2025 Movie Reviews

Nonnas

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June 23

For the second film of the day for the June Swoon, I went to my queue at Netflix for a film recently released starring Vince Vaughn. It was a comedy/drama called Nonnas.

After the death of his mother, Joe Scaravella (Vince Vaughn) impulsively decided to open an Italian restaurant on Statin Island, using real life Italian nonnas as the chefs. He wanted their homemade feel of family for the restaurant, warm and loving.

Of course, there are a bunch of troubles that spring up for Joe in his attempt to create his dream restaurant that would honor his mother.

The four women the film cast as the nonnas have a fun chemistry together and their Italian flair truly is the strength of the film. The actors included Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, and Brenda Vaccaro. They were as real as you could expect, right down to some of the same stereotypical flavors. Still, I think these ladies were the best part of the film.

I did feel like I was watching a sweeter version of The Bear in movie format. Many of the challenges that we saw play out on The Bear were also on display in Nonnas and I am certain that the reason this was made was to play off the success of the FX TV show. That is not a bad thing, but it does limited anything new that we could see.

The sweetness and warmth of the script and cast go a long way here, as some of the moments were very warm-hearted. Vince Vaughn played his role beautifully, holding everything together even when things were never going to work. I do think the ending is a bit predictable, and seemed to come out of nowhere quickly, but it does work for what we get here.

This may not be the greatest film ever made, but it is a very enjoyable watch with some characters that will make you feel good and a menu that might make you hungry.

3.5 stars

Another Simple Favor

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June 22

2018 saw the release of a movie that caught the world by surprise. A Simple Favor was directed by Paul Feig and starred Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in a black comedy/mystery that was really clever and creative. In 2025, Amazon Prime streamed a sequel to the film, Another Simple Favor trying to catch magic once again.

I will say that this sequel is not as great as A Simple Favor, but it is entertaining as well.

According to IMDB, “Stephanie Smothers and Emily Nelson reunite on the island of Capri, Italy for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman, which is interrupted by murder and betrayal.“

Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) becoming an author of true crime books and an online vlogger about other cases she investigated worked well for the character. Part of the key to the success of the original was the clever dialogue and interactions and this kept Stephanie active in that part. Then, with Emily’s unexpected return from prison and immediate reinsertion into Stephanie’s life, the film started to keep the audience on its toes with what was about to happen.

Allison Janney appeared as Emily’s Aunt Linda, and she provided her acting chops to a story that does get crazily weighed down with weird story elements.

The key to the film is the banter between Lively and Kendrick. This is the strength of the film as their dialogue is crisp and funny. Their barbs back and forth keep you guessing about what is actually going on with a convoluted story.

The story itself is really not great. It turned out to be more of a parody of the first film than anything else. There are so many bizarre choices that it made me wonder if that was the overall purpose of the sequel.

As an Amazon Prime streaming film, this is fun. A solid watch on a Sunday afternoon. There is a reason why a sequel to a surprise hit was not released in the theaters. It is because the film is not strong enough for that. However, I did enjoy this on the power of the two lead actresses, even when they are in the most ridiculous, bordering on stupid, situations.

3.2 stars

The Friend

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June 21

The second film of the June Swoon today was one I rented off Fandango at Home and I rented it because they had Bill Murray on the cover and had a decent Rotten Tomatoes score. We are under ten days now left in the June Swoon and the 2025 movies have been tough to find to watch.

According to IMDB, “Novelist and creative writing teacher Iris (Naomi Watts) finds her comfortable, solitary New York life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor (Bill Murray) commits suicide and bequeaths his beloved Great Dane to her. The regal yet intractable beast, named Apollo, immediately creates problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones, his looming presence constantly reminding her of her friend’s choice to take his own life. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding to the animal, she begins to come to terms with her past, her lost friend, and her own creative inner life.“

I had no idea what this movie was about. I did not know that this was going to be a story about a girl and her dog. I’ve never been a big fan of dog movies that try to tug on the heartstrings. However, this added more to the story than just the dog. The story of Walter (Bill Murray) having committed suicide and how that affected the people around him was very interesting for me.

Naomi Watts is always great. There could have been more Bill Murray for my tastes, but I understand why that is the case with the story.

I am not a dog person, but this was a nice film. I liked the balance between the guilt and sadness of one aspect of the story and the bonding between a very charismatic dog and a human.

3 stars

28 Years Later

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I recently rewatched 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, the two other films in this franchise in preparation for this new film, 28 Years Later, which reunited Danny Boyle as director and Alex Garland as a writer (they worked together on 28 Days Later). After watching 28 Years Later, I realized that I really did not need to do that homework.

28 Years Later does pick up the story of the Rage Virus, with England now being a fully isolated and quarantined. It started off with an action set featuring boy named Jimmy. After we see this, the film is set in a village on the island of Lindisfarne, where we meet Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his sickly wife Isla (Jodie Comer). They have a son named Spike (Alfie Williams) and Jamie is preparing to take Spike to the mainland on his first infected kill, a right of passage for the young boy.

The father-son had some harrowing adventures on the mainland and had to struggle to avoid an Alpha infected (zombie?) to make their way home.

Spike is very concerned with his mother’s mysterious illness and he takes her on a journey to the mainland in search of help for her.

This movie feel like two parts. The first part is the father-son adventure of Jamie and Spike and the second part is Spike’s adventure with his mom. Spike is 100% the main character and Aaron Taylor-Johnson disappears in the second part of the movie. Alfie Williams does an exceptional job as the main protagonist and we see Spike mature throughout the movie as he faces more and more dangers in the world. Alfie Williams has to carry way more of this film on his back than I ever thought possible and the young actor does a remarkable job of it.

Ralph Fiennes showed up eventually in a great role, but what would you expect? Ralph Fiennes is one of our greatest working actors.

The film has an old timey feel to it, which I believe is in the manner in which Danny Boyle shot the film. It was reported that he shot much of the film using iPhones and you could see the way that made the film appear. However, this film had several strange and experimental type shots that did not work as well for me. There were many film footage spliced in with the movie, which, at times, felt out of place. In particular, shots of a group of, what seemed to be knights shooting arrows in medieval times were used and I did not like that. They also inserted several flashes of infected just out of nowhere, in an attempt to make the shot feel more dreamlike. Many of these interludes felt out of place for me as well.

Without spoiling it, I was not a fan of the ending of the movie. I had not known that there was a sequel to this movie already done filming. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is scheduled to come out January 2026 and the ending of this movie is so much of a set up for the next movie that it is kind of irritating.

This is very much a different film than either of the first two that I think there may be some viewers who find it annoying and not what they were after. I did feel the length of the film at times and the distinctly different parts of the film did feel weird. You could almost call this an artistic vision of a zombie movie and not be too far off.

There were a lot of tense moments, but, if I am being sincere, I felt more tense watching the trailers for this movie than I did during the actual film. There were some solid emotional moments and there were some frightening scenes too, but those trailers were really good and built up a tone that the film did not sustain throughout.

Overall, I liked this movie a lot, even if I had some questions about some choices made, both in the story and in the presentation. Alfie Williams is a star in the making and he stands out here among some great actors.

3.9 stars

Elio

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The latest Pixar movie was released this weekend. It is entitled Elio and, to be honest, it was a film that I was not looking forward to because I just did not enjoy the trailers for the film. It is a brand new IP from Pixar and, while I have enjoyed most of Pixar movies, I just was not excited for this one.

After seeing this, I would say that it is a solid Pixar movie, but that I would not consider it in the top tier of the company’s oeuvre.

According to IMDB, “Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination, finds himself on a cosmic misadventure where he must form new bonds with alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be.“

I did like the character of Elio, which was something that I worried about from the trailers. The film does a really good job of setting up Elio’s troubles and issues that lead him to look to the stars. Yonas Kibreab (who played Finn in Netflix’s adaptation of Sweet Tooth) does a solid job of voicing Elio, and I bought the relationship between him and his alien friend Glordon (voiced by Remy Edgerly). Much of the film will be centered around that relationship and if it does not work, the film will be in trouble.

The script does a good job of, while being familiar to other Pixar type films, avoiding the Pixar tropes that we have become used to over the years.

The voice cast is very good for the film including Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett, Brendan Hunt, Jameela Jamil, Matthias Schweighöfer, and Brandon Moon.

The design of the characters and the setting is standout, creating a glorious fantasy setting for our characters to work through. It will absolutely give young children something to keep their focus on.

I do think it takes some time getting going and has characters doing things that they may not be capable of doing, but there are some good messages in the film and I do think it will be a good family watch. It certainly was better than I initially thought it would be even if it is near the bottom of the Pixar film list.

3.75 stars

The Surrender

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June 20

So I did a second Shudder movie this morning for the June Swoon. It seemed like a good double feature with In a Violent Nature, and the fact that I am going to 28 Years Later this afternoon. The Surrender fit nicely into the schedule.

According to IMDB, “When the family patriarch dies, a grieving mother and daughter risk their lives to perform a brutal resurrection ritual and bring him back from the dead.“

Colby Minifie (who plays Ashley on The Boys) starred as Megan, whose mother Barbara (Kate Burton) was helping her ailing husband Robert (Vaughn Armstrong). Robert was stricken with cancer and was in terrible shape, in pain and agony.

Colby Minifie and Kate Burton did a tremendous job together in this film, which was, at times, very difficult to watch. Their performances stood out among the best parts of the film.

In fact, I would say the first two acts of this movie were excellent. There was deep issues between the mother and daughter and the grief over what was happening to Robert, as well as his ultimate fate, were creating high levels of stress and anxiety.

However, the third act of this movie really went off the rails. The first two acts dealt with the difficulty of caring for a loved one who was desperately sick and dying and another act handled the relationship between the family members. However, it is when the supernatural things start to happen that the film ceases to work. The character development that was alive in the first two acts of the film really take a back seat to the body horror or scary circumstances that are nowhere near as intense.

With the arrival of The Man (Neil Sandilands), the film still is working because of the uncertainty and the mysterious nature of everything that he is doing with the grieving wife and daughter. After that, things just get weird and there are no explanations for what happened or why things went as they did.

This started strong but ended with a very disappointing result. I still was impressed with Colby Minifie and Kate Burton and their work in their roles. I just wish they would have been given something better to wrap the story up with.

2.6 stars

Titan: The OceanGate Disaster

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June 19

This is the second film of the June Swoon today, and it is a second documentary. However, unlike Black Barbie, this tells the recent tale of a horrible tragedy from this decade. The documentary focuses on the disaster of OceanGate, the submersible that was intended to take people to see the remains of the Titanic, only to have its own catastrophe.

According to Netflix, “The Titan submersible’s ill-fated journey to the ruins of the Titanic dominated headlines in June 2023, yet the shocking decisions that led to the disaster have never been revealed like this. Titan: The OceanGate Disaster delves into the psyche of billionaire OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and explores his relentless quest to bring oceanic exploration to the masses – at any cost. Through exclusive access to whistleblower testimony, pivotal audio recordings, and footage from the company’s early days, the film provides an unprecedented look at the technical challenges, moral dilemmas, and shockingly poor decisions that culminated in the catastrophic expedition. Titan examines the doomed underwater endeavor that forced the world to reconsider the price of unchecked ambition in the depths of the ocean.”

The documentary does a really great job of telling this story up until the actual journey of the Titan. The time spent with the Titan during the time before the implosion gives me a clear and obvious picture of why this tragedy occurred and why this was pushed forward. I feel as if the doc needed to focus in on the time during when the world was unsure of what was going on and were hoping that the people aboard the Titan could be saved.

There were some fascinating interviews with people who had worked on the project or who were scheduled to be in the exposition. These were all really well done. It just felt like the time about the actual submersible’s destruction was handled through box text on the screen.

The most anxious moments of the doc was the sound of the popping during some of the footage, popping sounds that were the submersible cracking. These recordings were tense and astounding.

The doc certainly sets up OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush as our film’s villain, but it would have been nice to go even deeper than what they did. I can see the arrogance and the narcissism, but I would like to know more about it than what was given. He is made out to be the bad guy here though, and he very well may have been.

Overall this was a compelling story that seemed to be missing a few specifics or some more depth that would have made this an absolutely powerhouse of a documentary. As it is, it is fine.

3.6 stars

Mountainhead

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June 18

HBO Max has a movie called Mountainhead on its streaming service released in 2025. I scheduled this as the second film for the June Swoon today.

Mountainhead is a dark comedy that takes four characters who are the richest men in the world, who come together for a boys’ weekend, to discuss how much money they have and how they can control the world through economic turmoil with their technology and their influence.

Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith and Ramy Youssef played the four tech billionaires who are preparing their ideas for creating a Utopian society with their AI and their tech skills.

The film started off with a lot of dialogue dealing with their plans and how they can use their manipulative abilities. The second part of the movie went into a dark and possibly ridiculous plan to eliminate one of their own.

This is clearly a satire poking fun at billionaires and their narcissism. The first part of the dialogue was difficult to follow. With all of the tech terms, it could have been as if they were speaking a different language. After that, the talented actors made the film wild. Looking at it like a satire helps it our.

2.75 stars

Rust

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June 17

The second June Swoon film of the day is one that had quite a tragic lead up until release. There was an accidental shooting with a gun with blanks that led to the death of the cinematographer of the film that caused a ton of negative press and a controversy in the political world. After charges were dropped against star Alec Baldwin, the decision was made to finish the film for release.

According to IMDB, “An orphaned boy of 13 left to fend for himself and his younger brother in 1880s Wyoming is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher. His estranged grandfather breaks him out of jail and they go on the run to Mexico.”

Ignoring the backstage drama and tragedy that engulfed the movie prior to its release, I thought Rust was a pretty decent Western. Starring Alec Baldwin as Harlan Rust and Patrick Scott McDermott as Harlan’s grandson Lucas, Rust was beautifully shot and featured some solid performances from the cast.

Alec Baldwin and Patrick Scott McDermott had a nice pairing, working very well with one another. The strength of the grandfather/grandson relationship was at the heart of this film. Harlan was a notorious criminal and killer across the Western parts of the United States during the 1880s. He arrived to save Lucas from being hanged for the accidental shooting of a man.

Lucas did not know who Harlan was and their slow development of their relationship was well done and well acted. Throw in the constant pressures and dangers of being pursued by bounty hunters and the law and Harlan and Lucas had to face plenty of obstacles.

In the genre of the Western, Rust is not going to provide anything new and special, but had everything that a Western should have.

The imagery of the Old West looked spectacular in the film and the landscapes of the time were portrayed beautifully by the filmmakers.

Over all I thought this was a decent film. It took some time to set up and would be considered a slow burn, but I was never bored and I did enjoy the central relationship at Rust’s core.

3.85 stars

Magazine Dreams

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June 16

Magazine Dreams was intended to be released originally in 2023, but it was pushed back, and not released until 2025. Part of the reason was said to be because of the writer’s strike, but a big reason was because of the trouble that the movie’s star, Jonathan Majors found himself in.

Jonathan Majors was in a scandal involving his girlfriend at the time who claimed that he physically assaulted her. It led to Majors losing several major projects and jobs in Hollywood, most notably the main villain role in a future Marvel Studios Avengers film.

Pushing this film back makes real sense because it has Majors playing the role of a mentally ill bodybuilder, who while on steroids, was showing violent tendencies and was involved in several scenes featuring assault.

After watching this uncomfortable movie, it makes me all the more sad that Jonathan Majors derailed his career the way he did, because he is spectacular in this role. He was so believable as a man on the very edge of losing it that it felt like he wasn’t just acting. It is so sad that it is going to be difficult to separate real life from this performance in Majors’ situation.

Without any spoilers, I am not sure that the ending worked. I am not sure that the ending was earned, meaning, I don’t think the character’s choice fit with what the film had given us. Still, the fall of this character is developed extremely well.

There felt as if there were too many storylines in the film, none of which truly pays off. I think it could have benefited from a story rewrite, focusing down some of the events that occur. However, Jonathan Majors really does step up his game.

I don’t know what Jonathan Majors’ career holds for him, but he is undeniably a brilliant actor. His performance in Magazine Dreams is top line, but my guess is that a deserved Oscar nomination will not come.

3.6 stars

Finger Food

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Because of the length of The Brutalist and a couple other commitments today (including Sunday Morning Sidewalk and a Dodger game), the second June Swoon film had to be a live action short. Going on YouTube, I found a neat little sci-fi/comedy bit called Finger Food.

The film starred Ali Khan, Jessica Balmer, Angus Barnett, Debbie Chazen and the scene-stealing and totally hilarious Maggie Ollerenshaw. This cast has been very active in the world of movies and shows as they all have quite a strong list of projects they had appeared in.

The synopsis of the short in the YouTube said “Jason desperately wants to be liked by his girlfriend’s parents. Things prove more difficult upon a horrifying discovery...”

This was really well done. It was laugh out loud at times and I loved the work from all of the main actors in the short. As I said, Maggie Ollerenshaw stood out as Nana, perhaps the creepiest nana of all time.

There is a moment in the short movie that you suddenly get an understanding of what might be happening involving a fly that was a shocking and sudden event that truly caught me off guard and I did not see it coming. Well done on that.

The short ended with me wanting to know so much more. The situation that Jason had found himself stuck in was unbelievable and I really would like to know what was going to happen.

4.4 stars

The Life of Chuck

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This one was sensational.

Based on a novella by Stephen King, Mike Flanagan wrote this story about a man named Chuck, checking in on Chuck in three different time frames.

I was completely mesmerized with this movie.

It started off with Act 3, and then went backwards. A great storytelling tactic that I did not even realize until I saw Act 1 on the screen.

Chuck was played in Act 3 and 2 by Tom Hiddleston and he absolutely blew me away (especially with something that happened in Act 2. No spoilers, but it was absolutely brilliant).

In Act 1, three actors played the young Chuck. Cody Flanagan played 7-year old Chuck. Benjamin Pajak played 11-year old Chuck. Then Jacob Tremblay played 17-year old Chuck. All three of them were exceptional, but I thought Benjamin Pajak was the real standout as he seemed to have the most to do in this act. So while Jacob Tremblay was the biggest name of the three, Pajak did the best work for me.

The other wonderful performance of this movie, all in Act 1 was Mark Hamill, who played Albie Krantz, Chuck’s grandfather. Hamill got such a meaty role with this character that I sincerely think he has a strong case to get an Academy Award nomination for supporting actor. Hamill was brilliant as the grandfather with a bunch of secrets.

The narration over top of the movie was done by Nick Offerman and he provided such an amazing voice over. There was something about the way Offerman delivered his lines that made me feel as if everything was the way it was supposed to be.

The film is relatable, reflective and life-affirming. I loved The Life of Chuck. I did not know what it was going to be going in and I was absolutely thrilled coming out.

5 stars

Materialists

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What happens when Madame Webb is dating Reed Richards after breaking up with Captain America? I know that is not what is going on here, but I have to admit, I kept thinking about it as I watched this movie.

Since I was thinking about that more than I was thinking about what the story was or who these characters were, it tells you that this rom-com story did not grab my attention.

According to IMDB, “A young, ambitious New York City matchmaker finds herself torn between the perfect match and her imperfect ex.”

I had some problems with this story. I liked every actor involved here, but I just did not form any interest in the characters they were playing. The biggest issue I had was that I just did not feel anything for the couple of Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans. We met them after their break up and then when we got flashbacks, we only got flashbacks to them fighting. I thought there was more chemistry between Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal, but the film did not want them together.

I think this movie was too long as well. I did enjoy a side storyline with one of Dakota Johnson’s clients from her matchmaking company, but it was not a major part.

Three likable actors but I was bored for much of the movie and I did not care about any of them.

2.5 stars

The Rule of Jenny Pen

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June 14

Boy, John Lithgow can be creepy.

The second film in the June Swoon today is The Rule of Jenny Pen from Shudder and it is a psychological thriller set in a care home.

According to IMDB, “Confined to a secluded rest home and trapped within his stroke-ridden body, a former Judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child’s puppet to abuse the home’s residents with deadly consequences.”

John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush are both excellent in this film. Lithgow is absolutely terrifying as the abusive resident with the hand puppet named Jenny Pen. Rush started off as an unlikable character, but his torment at the hands of Lithgow really humanized him, and made him someone you wanted to root for.

The setting of the care home was a really effective one, building the sadness and loneliness of the situation into the horrors of what was happening. The angles of shots and the way the camera moves adds to the anxiety of the scenes.

The lead performances of this movie really bring this New Zealand film to its high points, and the psychological horror works because it is so beleivable.

4 stars

Fear Street: Prom Queen

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June 13

In honor of Friday the 13th, I figured the second part of the June Swoon I would watch a good slasher film. Unfortunately, instead I watched Fear Street: Prom Queen.

I really enjoyed the previous installments of the Fear Street films. They came out in 2021, released once a week on Netflix. Based on R.L. Stein books, the Fear Street films were based in 1994, 1978 and 1666. They were connected and was a lot of fun.

It only made sense that they would return to the series. Prom Queen was lacking a lot of what made the first three films so great… namely a story, any interesting characters and fun.

According to IMDB, “Welcome back to Shadyside. In this next installment of the blood-soaked Fear Street franchise, prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.”

This was such a dumb movie. I mean, dumb even for a slasher movie. The story made no sense. The motives of the killer made no sense. The kills were uninspired and boring. It just had a whole list of horror/slasher tropes that were not fun at all.

The writing was so bad. The acting was over the top. What a waste of time.

I was sorry to see this because I really enjoyed the Fear Street films form 2021, but this was nowhere close to a worthy successor to those three movies. This felt like a high school production.

I wonder if I would have considered this so badly if it did not have the Fear Street name attached to it? The memory of the great movies that preceded this may have not allowed this one a fair shot. On the other hand, this was aggressively bad and if a better movie was made, perhaps it would have benefited from the previous films. Either way, don’t bother with this one.

1.2 stars