Some of the 2025 movies honored by the American Film Institute (AFI): Top Left, Frankenstein ; Top Right, Hamnet ; Bottom Left, Marty Supreme ; Bottome Right. Note : MJ's reviews of all the movies mentioned here can be found at MJtheMovies homepage. It's that time of year that, for some of us, is as exciting as the holidays themselves: reviewing the year in film, identifying the best movies of 2025, and looking ahead to the awards season, which has already begun via many regi

Will Arnett in Bradley Cooper's Is This Thing On? I hate it when movie titles end with punctuation. It makes writing a review all that more challenging, especially when the title is a question. I'll stop whining now. Bradley Cooper's intimate portrait about the trauma of divorce raises more questions than the simplistic one in its title, a reference to the kind of query an amateur thrust onto a stage might make when being handed a mic: "Is this thing on?" You get the idea. B

Timothée Chalamet as ping-pong virtuoso Marty Mauser in Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme. Timothée Chalamet aspires to greatness. Just ask him. At last year's SAG Awards when he accepted the "Actor" for Best Male Lead in a Movie (for playing a "version" of folk rock icon Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown ), Chalamet gushed to his fellow actors that he wanted to be one of the greats: “ I'm really in pursuit of greatness … I want to be one of the greats; I'm inspired by the greats ,”

Director Rob Reiner during the filming of 1995's The American President. "It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black." -Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), This is Spinal Tap (1984)  It is only fitting that an off-hand remark on a totally unrelated topic from his first directorial effort be used to describe Rob Reiner's (and wife Michele's) untimely death this past week. News of the couple's murder allegedly at the hand of thei

Bruce Springsteen Photos from the Born to Run Album Shoot. It's the gift that keeps on giving: presenting a research paper at last September's " Born to Run 50th Anniversary Symposium and Academic Conference," held at Monmouth University in New Jersey. Not only was the conference experience beyond awesome (see additional link at the end of this post), I continue to feel a part of this newly discovered musical and academic community. After giving my paper at the conference, I

George Clooney as the title character in Noah Baumbach's Jay Kelly. "All my memories are movies." - Jay Kelly (George Clooney) George Clooney and Jay Kelly are very similar. In fact, at times, the two seem interchangeable: both are famous, handsome, charismatic Hollywood leading men. Both live whirlwind lives filled with soundstages, industry tributes, and entourages. Both are in their sixties, facing the inevitable fading of good looks, virility and popularity. I'd say the s

Jessie Buckley (L) and Paul Mescal (R) in Chloé Zhao's Hamnet. To grieve or not to grieve. That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in cinema to milk The tears and sobs of the audience's heart Or show restraint against box office competition. Or, perhaps, take on a slew of other Oscar contenders By drowning them in a sea of a thousand wet fantasies. Alas, the conundrum Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao (for 2022's Nomadland ) accepted when she signed on to make Hamnet, a

From Left, Callum Turner, Elizabeth Olsen and Miles Teller in David Freyne's Eternity. "You can only choose one." - Eternity tagline. If you had to pick one path for the after-life (assuming there is one), what would it be? What would you choose? I'll admit that, after seeing a trailer for Eternity several weeks ago, I was hoping for a screwball rom-dramedy in the tradition of Warren Beatty's 1978 triumph, Heaven Can Wait. You know, someone dies (perhaps, prematurely), and

Felicity Jones (L) and Joel Edgerton (R) in Clint Bentley's Train Dreams. He liked the grand size of things in the woods, the feeling of being lost and far away, and the sense he had that with so many trees as wardens, no danger could find him . -Denis Johnson, Train Dreams Logger Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton) never knew who his parents were. A mostly self-taught lad who came to Fry, Idaho (later Bonners Ferry) sometime before the turn of the 20th century, Robert

Ariana Grande (L) and Cynthia Erivo (R) in Jon M. Chu's Wicked: For Good Wicked Director: Jon M. Chu Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Michele Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum Remember the sequence in 1939's The Wizard of Oz , the one where Dorothy's house, seemingly swept up by a midwest tornado, lands in Munchkinland, falling on the Wicked Witch of the East in the process? All that's left of her are the ruby shoes and a pair of striped red socks. Anyway, the house

Colin Farrell in Edward Berger's Ballad of a Small Player. Not all movies are created equal, and not all streaming options provide the best movie experience. By now, most of you who read this blog know that I'm a purist about going to a theater to see a movie: the way they were made - and intended - to be seen. Of course, certain films, notably those that are smaller and more intimate in terms of conversations between characters, set design, location, and scope of story, can

Margaret Qualley (L) and Ethan Hawke (R) in Richard Linklater's Blue Moon. On a dark and rainy night in November 1943, a drunken Lorenz "Larry" Hart (Ethan Hawke) stumbles down a NYC alley, incoherently mumbling song lyrics before collapsing on the street. As he lies alone shivering in the cold, a message appears on the screen, informing us that Hart died several days later from complications of pneumonia. But was it just pneumonia, or did other demons contribute to Larry's d

[Mary Shelley] has remained a figure as important in my life as if it was family... She gave voice to the voiceless and presence to the invisible, and she showed me that sometimes to talk about monsters we need to fabricate one of our own... and parables do that for us. -Guillermo del Toro, 2018 BAFTA's This is the movie. The one I wait for every year. The film that reminds me why I love cinema, and why movies matter. In a word, Guillermo del Toro's long-await

Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen in Scott Cooper's Springsteen / Deliver Me From Nowhere. NOTE : I have been a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen for fifty years now, ever since he graced the covers of both Time and Newsweek in the same week: October 27, 1975. His music has underscored - and sometimes, paralleled - key moments in my own life, songs that continue to evoke memories joyful and sad, pensive and painful, triumphant and mournful. Being a fan is both a blessing an

NOTE: This review may contain spoilers and profanity. I once had a friend (notice the verb tense) who asked me if I knew what I was going to see when I went to a movie. When I replied that I actually read preview notices and reviews, he just shrugged and said that, whenever the spirit moved him to go to the theater, he just showed up and bought a ticket for whatever feature was playing next. I can only imagine his face if I told him I went knowingly and willingly to see a Jul

From Left: Seth Rogen, Keanu Reeves, Aziz Ansari Keanu Reeves had me at hello. Well, more specifically, he made me smile the first time back in 1989 when his Ted "Theodore" Logan and fellow time-traveler Bill Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) invited us all to "Party on, dudes," in Stephen Herek's sci-fi comedy hit, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. As a result of the movie's success, Bill and Ted became pop culture icons of a sort and Reeves went on to become a mega-star with bo

Channing Tatum as Roofman. Beware the movie whose trailer plays like a rom-com, complete with Tom Petty's energized hit, "Running Down a Dream" (1989) echoing in the background. Quick cuts, witty comments, furtive glances, pratfalls and all, Roofman looked like a frantic, off-beat, thoroughly entertaining rom-com, starring the hunky (remember Magic Mike ?) Channing Tatum and the always interesting Kirsten Dunst in the lead roles, with supporting turns from Lakeith Stanfield,

The Actress Diane Keaton. A few days ago the world was a place that included Diane Keaton. Not it's a world that does not. Hence, it's a drearier world. Still, there are her movies. And her great laugh still echoes in my head. -Woody Allen It seemed appropriate to venture out to see a new rom-com the day after news of Diane Keaton's death at 79, and my review of Roofman will post separately. Last night, I watched Annie Hall for the umpteenth time and remembered how m

Jennifer Lopez and Tonatiuh in "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (2025) In 1986, the actor William Hurt, a white, cisgender male, received the...

June Squibb as the title character in "Eleanor the Great." "I didn't lie. I just told someone else's story." -Eleanor Morgenstein...