Tag: Movies

Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) | REVIEW

A hulking Predator in PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS — PHOTO: DISNEY.

Directed by Dan Trachtenberg — Screenplay by Micho Robert Rutare.

With 2022’s Prey, 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg proved himself capable of shepherding the Predator franchise and steering it in a new and exciting direction. Now, in 2025, Trachtenberg’s next moves with the iconic sci-fi horror action film series are coming our way. This November, his second live-action Predator-film, Predator: Badlands, is set to premiere theatrically, but if you’re jonesing for more Trachtenberg-Predator goodness right now, then you’ll be happy to know that Disney+/Hulu just released a brand new Predator from Trachtenberg that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen from this franchise, given the fact that it is actually a fully animated film. That may not sound like the ideal way to tell these stories, but, in actuality, Trachtenberg has, with Predator: Killer of Killers, used the medium to pull off some genuine wish-fulfillment Predator movie moments that are exactly as out there and as gory as you could possibly like.

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From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025) | REVIEW

Ana de Armas as Eve in Ballerina. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate

Directed by Len Wiseman — Screenplay by Shay Hatten.

Only a select few action films of the last ten to fifteen years have become the household name and critical success story that John Wick is. Multiple effective sequels later (as well as an apparently only so-so spin-off miniseries titled The Continental), and now we have the first spin-off film in the franchise. With the clumsily titled From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, the shepherds of the franchise hope to build another film series within the same universe without having to always rely on the presence of the assassin played by Keanu Reeves. At the same time, the film’s title and marketing, which have emphasized the fact that Reeves makes an appearance, still use Wick as a crutch. Admittedly, it does seem slightly desperate, but, in 2025, at a point in time when even Disney can’t rely on a Captain America movie without Chris Evans to make money, a built-in audience is key when launching something quasi-new on the big screen. Those willing to take a chance on Ballerina will be treated to a film that has some of the thrills of the Wick films, but which, however, also struggles in notable areas.

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Mountainhead (2025) | REVIEW

Cory Michael Smith, Steve Carell, Ramy Youssef, and Jason Schwartzman in MOUNTAINHEAD — PHOTO: HBO / Macall Polay.

Directed by Jesse Armstrong — Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong.

How do you follow up the wild success of audience and critic-favorite Succession, which earned its creator, Jesse Armstrong, four Emmys (one for each season) for writing? Jesse Armstrong opted for an HBO film, Mountainhead, that, although not explicitly connected to the universe of Succession, feels somewhat related to the corporate, capitalist, and inheritance satire that put him on the map globally. However, though it occasionally does capture the right feeling of that show, Mountainhead doesn’t quite manage to say anything new.

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Fountain of Youth (2025) | REVIEW

John Krasinski, Domhnall Gleeson, and Natalie Portman in “Fountain of Youth,” now streaming on Apple TV+.

Directed by Guy Ritchie — Screenplay by James Vanderbilt.

Guy Ritchie’s Fountain of Youth follows siblings Luke (played by John Krasinski) and Charlotte Purdue (played by Natalie Portman) as they eventually team up to go on an adventure to find — yep, you guessed it — the fountain of youth. While Charlotte works as a museum curator in London, Luke steals paintings to complete a job for Owen Carver (played by Domhnall Gleeson), a billionaire who is searching for the fountain of youth to prevent his own death from a terminal illness. Luke and Charlotte’s paths cross when he steals a painting from the museum where she works, resulting in her losing her job. When one thing leads to another, she reluctantly joins their mission, while Interpol, as well as a secret society dedicated to protecting the fountain, is chasing them.

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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) | REVIEW

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt hanging on to an airborne upside-down yellow biplane in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING — PHOTO: Paramount Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie — Screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen.

When Mission: Impossible first took the leap from being a 1960s and 1970s TV series to being a cinematic franchise capable of rivalling both the most iconic spy thriller films and action extravaganzas in 1996, it was Tom Cruise’s first film as a producer. Now, 29 years later, Cruise has become Hollywood’s biggest movie star, and the film series is supposedly (if the marketing and promotion are to be believed) about to conclude with the aptly titled Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth film in the series. The film features both some of the best sequences in the entire film series, but also one of the messiest opening acts of any of the films.

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Fear Street: Prom Queen (2025) | REVIEW

Trailer title card — PHOTO: Netflix (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Matt Palmer — Screenplay by Matt Palmer and Donald McLeary.

In 2021, Netflix pleased horror fans with the nostalgic horror-slasher trilogy of films, adapting R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series from director Leigh Janiak. Janiak’s films all had clear style, grisly horror sequences, and well-done references to their cinematic inspirations. They were all quite solid films that got their hooks into a certain audience, and it put Fear Street on the map for Netflix. So much so that I had, honestly, been looking forward to seeing how Netflix would follow up the relatively successful trilogy. Four years later (and, notably, without Leigh Janiak in the director’s chair), we now finally have that next step. Fear Street: Prom Queen also tries to be a nostalgic slasher flick, but it fails in most departments and, frustratingly, fumbles the goodwill that the first three films had earned.

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Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) | REVIEW

Tony Todd in FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein — Screenplay by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor.

It was only a matter of time before the recent trend of legacy sequels, including in horror, would make its way to the Final Destination franchise, which burst onto the scene with James Wong’s iconic 2000 entry but stalled after Steven Quale’s Final Destination 5 in 2011. Now the horror movie franchise, which is built around a Rube Goldberg machine-esque chain reaction focus on Death’s design as a direct result of someone having cheated death, has been resurrected a quarter of a century after the release of the original film. I’ll admit that I was concerned that the inevitable legacy sequel would just be a quick cash grab, but I’m happy to report that it’s, in actuality, one of the sharpest films in the entire series. It’s clear from the first scene to the last that this was made by filmmakers who have a lot of love for these films and who understood fully what makes these films tick.

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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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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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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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