After the Hunt (2025)

A college student accuses her professor of inappropriate conduct. What kind of inappropriate conduct? The fuck if I know. I found this movie completely insufferable and infuriating, especially how everybody intellectualizes and talks circles around the issues without ever saying anything of value. The whole thing seems poised to generate controversy, yet I still have no idea what point it was trying to make. That everybody is a piece of shit? That was my general takeaway. I could have told you that without wasting two hours.

2 ulcers out of 5

Leave the World Behind (2023)

A realistic apocalyptic psychological thriller about what happens when technology completely breaks down and strands you from the rest of the world, and how quickly it devolves into chaos and mayhem. It's about how we’ve become so dependent on modern day conveniences and creature comforts that we are no longer able to function without them. The ultimate irony is that this aired on Netflix. We're all screwed. Hold onto all your physical media, folks.

3½ box sets of Friends out of 5

MIRROR MIRROR [2012]

Director Tarsem Singh delivers yet another visually stunning feast for the eyes with his strange adaptation of the Snow White story, Mirror Mirror.
Here we have Snow enlisting the aid of seven tiny rebels to fight against the power-hungry queen and a savage beast that dwells deep within the forest that surrounds the poverty-stricken kingdom.
Singh is no stranger to astonishingly beautiful set-pieces and intricate costume designs but sadly he never seems to shy away from wafer-thin scripts and laughable melodrama.  Fortunately, as a first for Singh, he's inserted some humor into his storytelling and, although, funny, it almost always feels out of place from the rest of the film.  Nothing seems to comfortably fall into place with each other and ends up making for a very uneven mess.  As imaginative and original as it all is, you can't help but feel that everyone involved were all working on a different film.

2½ stilts out of 5

Steel Magnolias (1989)

A film based on a stage play by Robert Harling about a group of six Louisianan women and the close-knit bonds they forge.
It skips forward years at a time, eschewing a traditional structure. If you over-analyse it you’ll be left with fragments that don’t satisfy in a meaningful way; they need to be viewed as a whole in order to make any kind of impact. The happenings are set during times that are markers, annual festivals or public holidays, alongside more distinctly personal events like a wedding, etc. Ultimately, it explores the consequences of either choosing to hold or choosing to play the hand of cards that life deals, while simultaneously celebrating the moments in time that shape us.

3½ mysterious ways out of 5

THE NORMAL HEART [2014]

Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) has a way of shamelessly pandering to a specific audience and spoon-feeding them by the truckloads to match exactly what their generic tastes might be.
The Normal Heart is no different as it is handed to the Academy audience on a silver platter.
Based on Larry Kramer's play of the same name, the film follows the rise of the AIDS crisis in the early '80's within the gay community.  With it's heavy subject matter, we're treated to some pretty great performances that never let a lot of the melodramatic speeches get too out-of-hand.  Murphy's direction isn't as flamboyant as it usually is (with the exception of a few distracting sequences), instead he focuses on the human drama that is actually quite compelling for the better half of the film.
Awards season might have swallowed this like honey but don't let it completely scare you away.

3 Rolodex cards out of 5

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY [2013]

John Wells adapts Tracy Letts' dysfunctional family stageplay August: Osage County for the screen with a most impressive cast ensemble.
It's Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts who do most of the heavy lifting but it's hard to find a weak link in the bunch as each actor brings tragic dedication to their own role.  While there are some wickedly funny bits of dialogue throughout the film, I found this to be one of the saddest films of the year with it's story about a family falling to pieces after a funeral.  Each character gets their own introduction and since there are so many you start to wonder where it's all going after awhile until the middle of the film when it kicks into high gear.  With the addition of some painfully awkward and uncomfortably funny scenes, I'd watch it all over again just to pick each individual performance because there's so damned much going on at once.

4 catfish out of 5