Tag: 2025

Nonnas (2025) | REVIEW

Trailer title card — PHOTO: Netflix.

Directed by Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) — Screenplay by Liz Maccie.

Stephen Chbosky’s Nonnas is a biographical dramedy that follows Joe Scaravella (played by Vince Vaughn), an Italian-American man, who is grieving the loss of his mother. Hoping to honor her and his grandmother’s memory, Joe, against the wishes of his closest friend Bruno (played by Joe Manganiello), uses his mother’s life insurance money to open a restaurant in her name wherein Italian grandmothers — ‘nonnas’ — will cook the dishes they know best. But that is easier said than done, as the grandmothers have a lot of opinions about how things are done in the kitchen and, notably, because Joe has no idea how much it’ll take to open a restaurant. Meanwhile, Joe hopes to rekindle an old romance with his high school sweetheart named Olivia (played by Linda Cardellini).

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The Last of Us – “Feel Her Love” | REVIEW

Ellie (Bella Ramsey) explores the body of an infected in THE LAST OF US: FEEL HER LOVE — PHOTO: Liane Hentscher / HBO.

This is a recap and review of the fifth episode of the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect spoilers for season 1 and game 1 (and the episode itself, of course), but also some references to and comments about the second game (though without spoilers).

In the fifth episode of the second season — titled Feel Her Love — Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) and Dina (played by Isabela Merced) opt to move through a warehouse that WLF soldiers are strangely leaving unguarded. Meanwhile, WLF Sergeant Elise Park (played by Hettienne Park) reveals why she had to lock her own soldiers inside of an infected zone. Feel Her Love was written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and directed by Stephen Williams (Lost; Westworld).

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Another Simple Favor (2025) | REVIEW

Anna Kendrick in ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR — PHOTO: Amazon Studios (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Paul Feig (Ghostbusters) — Screenplay by Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis.

Set several years after the events of the first film, Paul Feig’s Another Simple Favor still follows content creator Stephanie Smothers (played by Anna Kendrick), who is now also known as an amateur sleuth and a true crime novelist. One day, at a book signing event, Emily (played by Blake Lively), also known as Hope, shows up to meet with Stephanie, after Emily had recently been released from prison. But, according to Emily, this isn’t really a confrontation as much as it is a very public invitation to Emily’s upcoming wedding. Emily is marrying into an Italian crime family, and she would like Stephanie to tag along and serve as her maid of honor. Hoping to evade a potential lawsuit and, at the same time, increase her book sales, Stephanie agrees to Emily’s proposal and goes with her to Italy. However, when people from the wedding party start to drop dead, Stephanie suddenly finds herself as the main suspect.

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The Last of Us – “Day One” | REVIEW

Bella Ramsey as ‘Ellie’ playing a guitar in The Last of Us: Day One — PHOTO: HBO/Liane Hentscher.

This is a recap and review of the fourth episode of the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect spoilers for season 1 and game 1 (and the episode itself, of course), but also some references to and comments about the second game (though without spoilers).

In the fourth episode of the second season — titled Day One — Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) and Dina (played by Isabela Merced) explore Seattle, deepen their connection, and search for the W.L.F. crew that killed Joel. Elsewhere, we experience how far W.L.F. leader Isaac (played by Jeffrey Wright) is willing to go to fight back against the religious Seraphites. The Path was written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and directed by Kate Herron (Loki: Season 1).

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Thunderbolts* (2025) | REVIEW

(L-R) David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, and Wyatt Russell in Marvel Studios’ THUNDERBOLTS* — PHOTO: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Marvel.

Directed by Jake Schreier (Beef) — Screenplay by Eric Pearson (Black Widow) and Joanna Calo (The Bear).


When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Marvel Studios and fans alike like to think of the series of films in distinct phases, with the first three being known as the Infinity Saga, which culminated in Spider-Man: Far From Home and Avengers: Endgame in the summer of 2019. Since then, the MCU has operated within the so-called Multiverse Saga, which, however, has largely struggled to recapture the spirit, enthusiasm, and success of the first three phases. Phases four and five have had incredible highs (e.g. Spider-Man: No Way Home) but also messy lows (e.g. Captain America: Brave New World), and with Marvel Studios’ latest release, Thunderbolts*, they’re hoping to end phase five on a high and right the ship before the sixth phase of the MCU, which is set to include major event films such as The Fantastic Four: The First Steps and two Avengers films. Whether or not Marvel Studios can recapture the prominent pop culture spot they once held is still very much up in the air, but Thunderbolts* (the asterisk is there for a reason) is definitely a step in the right direction.

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The Last of Us – “The Path” | REVIEW

Bella Ramsey in THE LAST OF US: THE PATH — PHOTO: HBO.

This is a recap and review of the third episode of the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect spoilers for season 1 and game 1 (and the episode itself, of course), but also some references to and comments about the second game (though without spoilers).

In the third episode of the second season — titled The Path — we get a three-month time jump, as the Jackson settlement and its wounded — including Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) — recover in the wake of the tragedy in last week’s episode. However, when Dina (played by Isabela Merced) reveals a secret to Ellie, it sets in motion an appeal to gather up a crew to hunt down those who wronged them and killed Joel. The Path was written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and directed by Peter Hoar (The Last of Us: Long, Long Time).

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Until Dawn (2025) | REVIEW

(L-R) Ji-young Yoo, Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A’zion, and Belmont Cameli in UNTIL DAWN — PHOTO: Sony Pictures Releasing (Still image from trailers).

Directed by David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) — Screenplay by Gary Dauberman (‘Salem’s Lot) and Blair Butler (The Invitation).

After years and years of middling-to-poor video game adaptations, it seems we’re finally at a moment in time when Hollywood is confidently turning video games into beloved and/or successful films or series. We’ve got The Last of Us, Fallout, Sonic the Hedgehog, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, just to name a few. Now, of course, there are still some duds out there, such as Eli Roth’s Borderlands adaptation, which was largely regarded as one of the worst movies of last year. The latest attempt at turning a popular video game into a successful movie is David F. Sandberg’s Until Dawn from Sony Pictures, with which the studio is hoping to find low-budget horror movie success, like certain studios have become quite known for on a regular basis, but with a video game adaptation. In a lot of ways, Until Dawn makes a lot of sense for that model, and, heck, it should be a success given the horror movie veterans — like Gary Dauberman and David F. Sandberg — they’ve hired to get the job done. But does Until Dawn succeed as a video game adaptation? Frankly, I think it’ll divide opinion.

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Sinners (2025) | REVIEW

Michael B. Jordan and Miles Caton in Ryan Coogler’s SINNERS — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Ryan Coogler — Screenplay by Ryan Coogler.

Ryan Googler should be a household name. He burst onto the scene with his incredible feature debut Fruitvale Station, revitalized the modern American sports drama (and an iconic franchise) with Creed, broke box office records with the iconic superhero film Black Panther, and took on the daunting task of making a sequel to his superhero epic, even though it would be without its leading man with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, following Chadwick Boseman’s tragic passing. Coogler has proven himself to be a commercially viable filmmaker with something on his mind and the skill with which to pull off his ideas breathtakingly. But now he’s finally made something unique and original, despite the genre tropes his film willingly embraces, following years upon years of working with true stories, established characters, or within the Marvel machine. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is an original vampire period film of which he insisted on having full creative control and future ownership, with a deal that resembles what Quentin Tarantino, among others, have done before him. That was a deal worth fighting for, because Sinners is the kind of instant classic original genre film that will blow people away.

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The Last of Us – “Future Days” | REVIEW

Bella Ramsey with her back to the camera in THE LAST OF US: Future Days — Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO.

This is a recap and review of the premiere of the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us. Expect spoilers for season 1 and game 1, but also some references to and comments about the second game (though without spoilers).

The wait is finally over. It’s been more than 2 years since the release of the season finale of the first season of HBO’s adaptation of the beloved and critically acclaimed video game series known as The Last of Us, the two parts of which are my favorite video games ever made. Now, the second season premiere has been released on Max around the world, and the showrunners are now officially no longer adapting the first game, but rather the highly discussed, more complex, and much longer second game (click here to read my spoiler-filled thoughts on The Last of Us: Part II). How did the season premiere live up to the excellent games and the strong first season? Well, let’s have a closer look.

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Holland (2025) | REVIEW

NICOLE KIDMAN stars in HOLLAND — PHOTO: JACLYN MARTINEZ / PRIME.

Directed by Mimi Cave — Screenplay by Andrew Sodorski

In 2022, Mimi Cave’s debut feature FRESH, a thriller about dating with a wicked twist, was one of the, ahem, freshest surprises of the year. Naturally, this always makes you curious about the director’s next step. For her sophomore effort, Mimi Cave dropped her first film’s very modern narrative and feel in favor of an early 2000s narrative set in a quirky Michigan suburbia. Cave’s Holland is a psychological drama with thriller elements that is set in Holland, Michigan (hence the title), which is a town settled by Dutch-Americans and which prominently displays its Dutch cultural identity with tulip fields and windmills. The film follows Nancy Vandergroot (played by Nicole Kidman), a teacher who is starting to suspect that her husband, Fred (played by Matthew Macfadyen, is living a double life on his many work trips. To figure out what is going on, she teams up with a colleague, shop teacher Dave Delgado (played by Gael García Bernal), to spy on her husband and investigate his optometrist office. However, in that process, Nancy may have bitten off more than she can chew, as her husband’s secrets aren’t exactly what she expected, while, at the same time, she starts having an affair with Dave.

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