Tag: Neon

The Monkey (2025) | REVIEW

The titular toy monkey in Osgood Perkins’ THE MONKEY — PHOTO: NEON / Black Bear.

Directed by Osgood Perkins — Screenplay by Osgood Perkins.

Filmmaker Osgood Perkins is fast becoming one of the most interesting horror filmmakers on the rise. Following three relatively unknown features, including the quite good The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Perkins finally had his breakthrough as a filmmaker in 2024 with the excellent horror-thriller flick Longlegs. Now in 2025, he’s hoping to fully etch his name into stone, as a prominent horror filmmaker with Keeper, releasing later this year, and The Monkey, an adaptation of a Stephen King short story, which was released in theaters at the end of February. Here Perkins is trying to prove himself in another horror subgenre, namely that of the horror-comedy, but, while there is a lot to like here, it isn’t quite as effective as his 2024 hit.

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Anora (2024) | REVIEW

Mikey Madison as the title character in Sean Baker’s ANORA — PHOTO: Neon (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Sean Baker — Screenplay by Sean Baker.

When Sean Baker walked up to the stage to accept the Palme d’Or prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, he stood next to George Lucas, who had just received an honorary award. There the legendary creator of Star Wars, essentially the blockbuster film that changed the direction of American cinema for the next many decades, stood next to perhaps the most well-known American independent filmmaker who was enjoying the biggest moment of his career with his latest film, Anora. Arguably, no two filmmakers could better symbolize the vast breadth of American filmmaking, and here Baker was becoming the first American competitive Palme d’Or winning director in more than a decade (since Malick in 2011). Frankly, for Baker, Anora marks arguably his feature with the most public appeal. 

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Mothers’ Instinct (2024) | REVIEW

Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain in Benoît Delhomme’s Mothers’ Instinct — PHOTO: Neon (Still image from trailer).

Directed by Benoît Delhomme — Screenplay by Sarah Conradt.

Based on the novel Derrière la haine from author Barbara Abel (and a remake of the 2018 Olivier Masset-Depasse adaptation), Benoît Delhomme’s Mothers’ Instinct tells the story of two 1960s American housewives and mothers, Celine (played by Anne Hathaway) and Alice (played by Jessica Chastain). After Celine’s son tragically died and Alice was too late to stop it from happening, Celine and Alice become distant, and, following Celine’s stay away from the suburbs that she called her home, Alice notices a change in her neighbor, who starts to become close with Alice’s son. As strange things start to happen, Alice begins to suspect that her grieving neighbor has cruel intentions.

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REVIEW: Triangle of Sadness (2022)

Woody Harrelson (right) plays a drunken American captain of a yacht that’s about to be bought by a wealthy Russian capitalist (played by Zlatko Burić) in Ruben Östlund’s TRIANGLE OF SADNESS — PHOTO: NEON / SF Studios..

Directed by Ruben Östlund (The Square) — Screenplay by Ruben Östlund.

Alongside the Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier (Oslo 31. August) and the Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg (Druk), the Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund is one of the very best Scandinavian filmmakers working right now. Östlund has been working as a filmmaker for more than a decade, but I think it’s fair to say that it is with his 2014 effort, Force Majeure, that he had his true international breakthrough. Including his latest film, Östlund’s last three films have all received awards at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. With Triangle of Sadness, the Swede is now a two-time Palme d’Or winner (winning his first one for the utterly hilarious The Square from 2017). Having swapped the square out in favor of a triangle (the title refers to an area between your eyebrows and your nose bridge that can be ‘fixed’ with botox), Östlund has managed to keep his satirical writing equally sharp and at times outright hilarious. Triangle of Sadness is one of the best films of the year.

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REVIEW: Billie Eilish – The World’s A Little Blurry (2021 – Documentary)

Billie Eilish and her father, Patrick O’Connell, in “Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry,” now streaming on Apple TV+. — Photo: Apple / Apple TV+.

Directed by R. J. Cutler — Distributed by Neon / Apple TV+.

Veteran filmmaker and documentarian R. J. Cutler’s The World’s A Little Blurry is a fantastic year-in-the-life documentary about the rise to stardom for Billie Eilish, the immensely popular teenage singer-songwriter, who, in early 2019, had her debut studio album — When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? — released to critical acclaim. Cutler’s film is — for the most part — a vérité documentary that allows you to experience several private moments, as well as critical moments in her — and her brother Finneas’ — creative process, as a fly-on-the-wall. It’s an eye-opening documentary epic (it even has an intermission) about the life of a somewhat anxious teenage superstar that cares deeply about her fans, precisely because she is still a fan at heart, and she knows what it’s like to need that kind of bond. Continue reading “REVIEW: Billie Eilish – The World’s A Little Blurry (2021 – Documentary)” →

Early 93rd Academy Awards Predictions – Special Features #63

I really enjoyed doing this for the last two years, so it’s happening again! It has become a tradition of mine. The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony was only just held a few days ago, and I’ve only seen, like, a handful of films from 2020 at this point. I think I have a pretty good idea of what is coming out this year, though. So, without further ado, let’s get to it. Continue reading “Early 93rd Academy Awards Predictions – Special Features #63” →

REVIEW: I, Tonya (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – Neon

The following is a review of I, Tonya — Directed by Craig Gillespie.

Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya is a biographical picture about Tonya Harding (played by Margot Robbie), centered around her relationship with her mother — LaVona (played by Allison Janney) — and her husband — Jeff Gillooly (played by Sebastian Stan) — as well as the events surrounding the infamous 1994 attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan (played by Caitlin Carver), which, in the film, is referred to as ‘the incident.’
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