Tron: Ares (2025)

The next step in the evolution of TRON. The effects look better than ever, but it still feels hollow. Tron has never been the deepest franchise; it's all about the visual style and evocation of mood and showing off the best technology of the day. In that way, I appreciate what it's doing here. That being said, this one feels even louder and emptier than the previous film. This time, the hot button issue is AI. It's an inverse of the last film where now it's the MCP that leaves the grid into our world. At times, it reminded me of The Terminator. At the center is yet another Light Cycle sequence, which is the bread and butter of this franchise. It essentially amounts to a glorified tech demo of the times.

1 '80s throwback sequence out of 5

Babes (2024)

Girl gets knocked up (unplanned, of course) and while the father is out of the picture, her best friend (who has recently given birth) supports her in her decision to keep it. This inevitably leads to a falling out since one of the women is much more immature than the other. It's a modest comedy that sounds a lot shittier on the surface, but the relationship between the two friends feels very realistic and I had no regrets by the end of it (though you definitely have to be in a particular type of mood). It kind of plays like a cross between Broad City and Better Things, so I'd recommend it to fans of those shows. John Carroll Lynch's hair journey throughout was fucking hilarious.

3 satanic children out of 5