Category: Drama
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Little Amélie or the Character of Rain: What a Wonderful World This Could Be
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (2025) Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han Jin Kuang I’m a big animation fan, as everyone should know by now, so when I saw the captivating animation and score in the trailer for Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, I got very excited. While KPop Demon Hunters has been mine and pretty much everyone’s de facto Best Animated Feature winner since July, after watching Little Amélie tonight, I think…
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Jay Kelly: Can I Watch Again? I’d Like Another One
Jay Kelly (2025) Noah Baumbach Boy, have I missed Serious Sandler! Jay Kelly has been on my list since before I saw the first trailer thanks to Adam Sandler starring and Noah Baumbach directing, but that first trailer had me believing that this could be special. Then the reviews started rolling in, and I got nervous. I’m happy to report, though, that I personally had my worries proven wrong and was spellbound…
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Hamnet: To Be Sad or To Be Very Sad
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. Hamnet (2025) Chloé Zhao After a quick Chipotle break in the car and Morgan being added to the watch party, I ventured back into the same auditorium (not the same seat, though; I moved from E8 all the way to E7—Morgan sat in E8) for Hamnet, which I’ve been getting excited for for weeks. Fortunately, the film was just about as good and absolutely heartbreaking as I…
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Sentimental Value: There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. Sentimental Value (2025) Joachim Trier Am I a little bit cuckoo for scheduling a 9:35am showing of Sentimental Value ahead of my 12:40pm showing of Hamnet at the same theater? Yes, but that’s not my fault; if Cinemark had offered reasonable times to see this film, I would’ve gone at a reasonable time, but alas. I’ve gotten behind on my international films this year, so I was glad to take…
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Rental Family: Fake Families, Real Feels
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. Rental Family (2025) Hikari What a finish to Thanksgiving break! I have never watched so many consecutive new releases as I did over the last week, but it’s been so fun. Rental Family was a film that caught my attention from its first trailer—I have a thing for films that highlight people’s goodness and humanity—and the product absolutely delivered. I have yet to see Brendan Fraser’s Oscar-winning turn in The…
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Train Dreams: Pictures and a Thousand Words
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. Train Dreams (2025) Clint Bentley As the only truly film-obsessed member of my family, I’ve spent considerable time convincing my wife, parents, and siblings to watch movies with me that they’ve never heard of. Train Dreams was the movie today as we’re all together for Thanksgiving, and I know for a fact my family missed out on one hell of a film as I watched this one by myself.…
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Die My Love: The Dog Told Me Everything I Needed to Know
Die My Love (2025) Lynne Ramsay I’m sorry, I raced to the theater from school this afternoon for this? With Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson at the helm, I figured that Die My Love would be an easy win, but this film instead became one of the few examples of a bad movie with multiple outstanding performances. Simply put, the story and subtext of the movie just never came together for me. I’m…
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Blue Moon: Appreciating Beauty Wherever You Find It
Blue Moon (2025) Richard Linklater I knew that I was going to love Blue Moon when I first put it on my watchlist at the beginning of the year. A Richard Linklater film about Rodgers, Hart, and Hammerstein with Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley? It was settled then and there, and predictably, I was bewitched by this movie. I’m not the most versed in Linklater—though I’ve loved Hit Man, School of Rock, and Dazed and…
