Tag: Elle Fanning

Sentimental Value (2025) | REVIEW

Stellan Skarsgård as Gustav Borg in Joachim Trier’s SENTIMENTAL VALUE — PHOTO: NEON / NORDISK FILM (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Joachim Trier — Screenplay by Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt.

Like Thomas Vinterberg and Ruben Östlund, the Danish-born Norwegian auteur Joachim Trier is part of a select group of Scandinavian filmmakers who, in recent years, have broken through across the pond, exemplified by their prestigious Academy Award nominations. Trier, best known for his critically acclaimed Oslo trilogy (including the films (1) Reprise, (2) Oslo 31. August, and (3) The Worst Person in the World), has made several modern films that work as ruminations and meditations on the modern human experience, as his films cover themes, to name just a few, such as growing up, turning a corner in life, feeling unfulfilled, and feeling socially excluded. In recent years, some of my favorite reviews to write have been of the films in his excellent Oslo trilogy, two-thirds of which I consider genuine masterpieces (and, to add to that, Reprise is a fantastic debut film, despite arguably being the lesser of the three). Naturally, every new film of his is a major event to me. His latest film, Sentimental Value (original title: Affeksjonsverdi), continues Trier’s hot streak.

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Predator: Badlands (2025) | REVIEW

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi’s Dek in PREDATOR: BADLANDS — PHOTO: 20th Century Studios (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Dan Trachtenberg — Screenplay by Patrick Aison.

Predator: Badlands is the ninth (seventh if you don’t include the Alien vs. Predator crossovers) film about the alien creatures that we call ‘predators,’ one of which once went toe to toe with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch in the jungle in John McTiernan’s 1987 sci-fi action classic Predator. In the past few years, 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg has tried his best to take the franchise in a new direction with the fantastic live-action prequel titled Prey, where a Comanche woman encountered a Predator, and, more recently, with the animated triptych-esque Predator: Killer of Killers. Both of those Trachtenberg films were released straight to streaming, but now, with his third outing as a director of a Predator film, Predator: Badlands, time will tell if the higher budget and Trachtenberg’s ambitious storytelling will get the audience they deserve. Because, frankly, I think it is a very cool step in the right direction for the long-running franchise. 

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A Complete Unknown (2024) | REVIEW

Edward Norton and Timothée Chalamet in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. Photo by Macall Polay, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

Directed by James Mangold (LOGAN; Ford v Ferrari) — Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks.

Set in the early-to-mid 1960s, James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown follows a young musician named Bob Dylan (played by Timothée Chalamet) who, in a New Jersey hospital, meets his music idol, Woody Guthrie (played by Scoot McNairy), who is suffering from Huntington’s disease. Dylan impresses Woody and fellow musician Pete Seeger (played by Edward Norton) with a song dedicated to Guthrie, and, as a result, Seeger invites Dylan to stay in his home. As the two become fast friends, Seeger starts to introduce Dylan to the folk music scene, and soon, he becomes the target of the industry. Although Dylan makes a name for himself with folk music and protest songs, he gradually starts to struggle with being considered solely as a folk musician.

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Overview: June 2020

Overview provides my readers with a brief overview of the articles or reviews that I have written, as well as additional bite-sized thoughts on films or shows about which I do not intend to write thorough reviews. In June 2020, among other things, I wrote a lengthy spoiler-filled discussion of the story of The Last of Us: Part II, and I also, finally, reviewed the third season of Westworld.

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REVIEW: The Neon Demon (2016)

The Neon Demon Poster
Theatrical Release poster – Amazon Studios, et al.

The following is a review of The Neon Demon, a Nicolas Winding Refn film.

I like a lot of Nicolas Winding Refn’s films. I think he’s one of the most talented Danish directors out there. Drive is probably his most well known film, and definitely the film people praise the most. Drive is amazing, and I really like his Pusher-films too. Only God Forgives gets a lot of criticism, and I get where the criticism is coming from, but, ultimately, I thought the good outweighed the bad there. I really didn’t know what to expect from The Neon Demon.  Continue reading “REVIEW: The Neon Demon (2016)” →