Moviefone Editorial

Category: Oscars

  • Best Halle Berry Movies of All Time Ranked

    Halle Berry attends the European Gala Screening for Amazons: 'Crime 101' at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on January 28, 2026 in London, England. Photo: Kate Green/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
    Halle Berry attends the European Gala Screening for Amazons: ‘Crime 101’ at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on January 28, 2026 in London, England. Photo: Kate Green/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

    Academy Award winner Halle Berry is one of the most accomplished and beloved actresses of her generation.

    First appearing in supporting roles in now classic movies like ‘Jungle Fever‘, ‘The Last Boy Scout‘, and ‘Boomerang‘, Berry won an Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in 2001’s ‘Monster’s Ball‘, becoming the first and only Black woman to ever receive that honor from the Academy.

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    But she has also appeared in some of the most popular franchises of all time including the original ‘X-Men‘ trilogy, ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum‘, ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle‘, and the James Bond movie, ‘Die Another Day‘.

    Not to mention starring in critically acclaimed movies like ‘Losing Isaiah‘, ‘Bulworth‘, and ‘Could Atlas‘. Her latest, the new crime thriller ‘Crime 101‘, opens in theaters on February 13th.

    In honor of the new film’s release, Moviefone is counting down the 20 best movies of Halle Berry’s long and impressive career, including her latest.

    Let’s begin!

    Related Article: Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins Talk ‘Never Let Go’

    20. ‘X-Men: The Last Stand‘ (2006)

    (L to R) Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman in 'X-Men: The Last Stand'. Photo: Marvel Studios.
    (L to R) Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman in ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’. Photo: Marvel Studios.

    When a cure is found to treat mutations, lines are drawn amongst the X-Men, led by Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), and the Brotherhood, a band of powerful mutants organized under Xavier’s former ally, Magneto (Ian McKellen).

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    19. ‘Never Let Go‘ (2024)

    In this new psychological thriller/horror, as an Evil takes over the world beyond their front doorstep, the only protection for a mother (Berry), and her twin sons (Percy Baggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins) is their house and their family’s protective bond. Needing to stay connected at all times – even tethering themselves with ropes – they cling to one another, urging each other to never let go. But when one of the boys questions if the evil is real, the ties that bind them together are severed, triggering a terrifying fight for survival.

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    18. ‘Executive Decision‘ (1996)

    Terrorists hijack a 747 inbound to Washington D.C., demanding the release of their imprisoned leader. Intelligence expert David Grant (Kurt Russell) suspects another reason and he is soon the reluctant member of a special assault team that is assigned to intercept the plane and hijackers.

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    17. ‘The Program‘ (1993)

    Several players from different backgrounds try to cope with the pressures of playing football at a major university. Each deals with the pressure differently, some turn to drinking, others to drugs, and some to studying.

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    16. ‘The Call‘ (2013)

    Jordan Turner (Berry) is an experienced 911 operator but when she makes an error in judgment and a call ends badly, Jordan is rattled and unsure if she can continue. But when teenager Casey Welson (Abigail Breslin) is abducted in the back of a man’s car and calls 911, Jordan is the one called upon to use all of her experience, insights and quick thinking to help Casey escape, and not just to save her, but to make sure the man is brought to justice.

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    15. ‘Swordfish‘ (2001)

    (L to R) Halle Berry, John Travolta, Don Cheadle and Hugh Jackman in 'Swordfish'. Photo: Warner Bros.
    (L to R) Halle Berry, John Travolta, Don Cheadle and Hugh Jackman in ‘Swordfish’. Photo: Warner Bros.

    Rogue agent Gabriel Shear (John Travolta) is determined to get his mitts on $9 billion stashed in a secret Drug Enforcement Administration account. He wants the cash to fight terrorism, but lacks the computer skills necessary to hack into the government mainframe. Enter Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman), a n’er-do-well encryption expert who can log into anything.

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    14. ‘Losing Isaiah‘ (1995)

    Khaila Richards (Berry), a crack-addicted single mother, accidentally leaves her baby in a dumpster while high and returns the next day in a panic to find he is missing. In reality, the baby has been adopted by a warm-hearted social worker, Margaret Lewin (Jessica Lange), and her husband, Charles (David Strathaim). Years later, Khaila has gone through rehab and holds a steady job. After learning that her child is still alive, she challenges Margaret for the custody.

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    13. ‘Bulworth‘ (1998)

    A suicidally disillusioned liberal politician (Warren Beatty) puts a contract out on himself and takes the opportunity to be bluntly honest with his voters by affecting the rhythms and speech of hip-hop music and culture.

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    12. ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past‘ (2014)

    The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods as they join forces with their younger selves in an epic battle that must change the past – to save our future.

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    11. ‘Die Another Day‘ (2002)

    James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is sent to investigate the connection between a North Korean terrorist and a diamond mogul, who is funding the development of an international space weapon.

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    10. ‘Crime 101‘ (2026)

    (L to R) Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry star in 'Crime 101'. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton.
    (L to R) Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry star in ‘Crime 101’. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton.

    Set against the sun-bleached grit of Los Angeles, ‘Crime 101’ weaves the tale of an elusive jewel thief (Chris Hemsworth) whose string of heists along the 101 freeway have mystified police. When he eyes the score of a lifetime, his path crosses that of a disillusioned insurance broker (Berry) who is facing her own crossroads. Convinced he has found a pattern, a relentless detective (Mark Ruffalo) is closing in, raising the stakes even higher. As the heist approaches, the line between hunter and hunted begins to blur, and all three are faced with life-defining choices–and the realization that there can be no turning back.

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    9. ‘Boomerang‘ (1992)

    Marcus (Eddie Murphy) is a successful advertising executive who woos and beds women almost at will. After a company merger he finds that his new boss, the ravishing Jacqueline (Robin Givens), is treating him in exactly the same way. Completely traumatized by this, his work goes badly downhill.

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    8. ‘X-Men‘ (2000)

    Two mutants, Rogue (Anna Paquin) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team, the X-Men, must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers.

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    7. ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle‘ (2017)

    When an attack on the Kingsman headquarters takes place and a new villain rises (Julianne Moore), Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) are forced to work together with the American agency known as the Statesman to save the world.

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    6. ‘The Last Boy Scout‘ (1991)

    When the girl (Berry) that detective Joe Hallenback (Bruce Willis) is protecting gets murdered, the boyfriend (Damon Wayans) of the murdered girl attempts to investigate and solve the case. What they discover is that there is deep seated corruption going on between a crooked politician and the owner of a pro football team.

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    5. ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum‘ (2019)

    (L to R) Keanu Reeves and Halle Berry in 'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum'. Photo: Lionsgate.
    (L to R) Keanu Reeves and Halle Berry in ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’. Photo: Lionsgate.

    Super-assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) returns with a $14 million price tag on his head and an army of bounty-hunting killers on his trail. After killing a member of the shadowy international assassin’s guild, the High Table, John Wick is excommunicado, but the world’s most ruthless hit men and women await his every turn.

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    4. ‘Jungle Fever‘ (1991)

    A successful and married black man (Wesley Snipes) contemplates having an affair with a white girl (Annabella Sciorra) from work. He’s quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.

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    3. ‘X2‘ (2003)

    Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his team of genetically gifted superheroes face a rising tide of anti-mutant sentiment led by Col. William Stryker (Brian Cox). Storm (Berry), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) must join their usual nemeses—Magneto (Ian McKellen) and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn)—to unhinge Stryker’s scheme to exterminate all mutants.

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    2. ‘Monster’s Ball‘ (2001)

    A prison guard (Billy Bob Thornton) begins a tentative romance with the unsuspecting widow (Berry) of a man whose execution he presided over.

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    1. ‘Cloud Atlas‘ (2012)

    (L to R) Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in 'Cloud Atlas'. Photo: Warner Bros.
    (L to R) Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in ‘Cloud Atlas’. Photo: Warner Bros.

    A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. ‘Cloud Atlas’ explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future.

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  • Movie Review: ‘Wuthering Heights’

    (L to R) Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Actor, Producer Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw in 'Wuthering Heights', a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
    (L to R) Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Actor, Producer Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw in ‘Wuthering Heights’, a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

    Opening in theaters on February 13 is ‘Wuthering Heights,’ written and directed by Emerald Fennell and starring Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, and Owen Cooper.

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    Related Article: 20 Best Margot Robbie Movies Ranked Including ‘Wuthering Heights’

    Initial Thoughts

    Actor, Producer Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw in 'Wuthering Heights,' a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.
    Actor, Producer Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw in ‘Wuthering Heights,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.

    Inspired by Emily Brontë’s classic 1847 novel (thus the quotation marks around the title in the credits and marketing), Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ is not your mother’s well-read copy of the book. It’s not Laurence Olivier and William Wyler’s relatively faithful 1939 ‘Wuthering Heights’ either. Instead, it’s what you might call a remix of the Brontë tale, streamlined to focus almost exclusively on the relationship between Catherine ‘Cathy’ Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and the enigmatic Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi), while stripping out much of the novel’s later narrative and ramping up the eroticism.

    Maybe surprisingly, it works. Fennell (‘Promising Young Woman,’ ‘Saltburn’) has concocted a rich, full-bodied, almost classic film with gorgeous, windswept settings, an immersive atmosphere, and a chemistry between its two leads that practically fogs up the screen. No, it’s not particularly slavish to the text, but it’s a sweeping, epic tale of love, lust, vengeance, and forgiveness that crackles with passion and sexual energy.

    Story and Direction

    (L to R) Director, Writer, Producer Emerald Fennell and Actor, Producer Margot Robbie on the set of 'Wuthering Heights', a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo by Jaap Buitendijk. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.
    (L to R) Director, Writer, Producer Emerald Fennell and Actor, Producer Margot Robbie on the set of ‘Wuthering Heights’, a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo by Jaap Buitendijk. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.

    When Catherine ‘Cathy’ Earnshaw is a little girl, her father – who fancies himself a generous man but is actually a gambling and alcohol addict with an abusive temper — takes in a street urchin named Heathcliff who becomes Cathy’s best friend and, in time, hopelessly devoted to her. Cathy and Heathcliff are seemingly bonded for life, much to the consternation of serving girl Nelly, who may have her own repressed feelings for Cathy.

    As they grow older, Mr. Earnshaw becomes more dissolute and their estate – Wuthering Heights – falls further into disrepair. But while Heathcliff remains steadfastly true to Cathy, she has her eye on marrying the wealthy new neighbor, Edgar Linton, at the estate next door. When Heathcliff overhears her saying that she would ‘degrade’ herself by marrying her poor friend – despite the fact that she loves him dearly – he departs Wuthering Heights and doesn’t return for five years, during which time he makes his own fortune – and Cathy, although still desperately in love with Heathcliff, does in fact marry Linton.

    Thus begins an escalating series of events as Cathy and Heathcliff first deny then ultimately give into their true passion, until their affair threatens to smash their lives and that of those around them to pieces. That’s when love and desire curdle into cruelty and psychological abuse, even as the illicit couple’s romance takes on epic, tragic proportions.

    (L to R) Actor, Producer Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi and Director, Writer, Producer Emerald Fennell on the set of 'Wuthering Heights', a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo by Jaap Buitendijk. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.
    (L to R) Actor, Producer Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi and Director, Writer, Producer Emerald Fennell on the set of ‘Wuthering Heights’, a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo by Jaap Buitendijk. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.

    In adapting the novel, Fennell combines or discards characters, and leaves an entire generation of Lintons and Earnshaws off the playing field. In doing so, she shifts the focus from generational trauma squarely onto Cathy, Heathcliff, and their feelings for each other that are painfully romantic, bursting with unrestrained ardor, yet also torturously destructive. Through her exceptional lead actors and Fennell’s own grasp of how yearning can be physically and emotionally consuming, Cathy and Heathcliff’s desire practically oozes off the screen.

    This probably wouldn’t be an Emerald Fennell film if she didn’t also make a little more explicit what could only be implicit in 1847. While there’s barely a glimpse of naked skin to be seen – which somehow makes it more erotic – multiple characters in the film indulge in the pleasures of the flesh and a bit more. In a relationship that blooms (if that’s the word) between two characters later in the film (fans of the book will know who we mean), some BDSM comes into play that adds a bit of unbridled perversity to the proceedings.

    Cast and Performances

    (L to R) Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw in 'Wuthering Heights,' a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.
    (L to R) Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw in ‘Wuthering Heights,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.

    After following ‘Barbie’ with the misbegotten ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,’ Margot Robbie bounces back here with the kind of screen-filling, brave performance that she became known for early on. Her Cathy is irritating, self-pitying, calculating, and class-obsessed, yet also passionate, kind, loving, lustful, and heartbreaking – with Robbie delivering it all in a masterful balance of conflicting emotions and characteristics that make us feel every inch of Cathy’s titanic regret and desire.

    Jacob Elordi’s Heathcliff comes hard on the heels of his magnificent portrayal of the creature in ‘Frankenstein’ and is another triumph for this quickly developing actor. As with Robbie’s Cathy, Heathcliff is a man who contains multitudes: he’s feral, brutish, cunning, and capable of great cruelty, yet also charming, vulnerable, and aching with love, loss, and untold suffering. Elordi gives him not just an imposing physical presence, but a powerful emotional one as well, making this enigmatic character both alluring and frightening.

    As for the rest of the main cast, Hong Chau is her usual magnificent self as Nelly, although the character’s often obscured motivations come across as murkier on the screen. But her own pain and sadness are evident throughout. Alison Oliver is an eerie Isabella, but Shazad Latif gets a bit of the short end of the stick as Linton, who never quite becomes much more than an emotional punching bag for the leads.

    Final Thoughts

    Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff in 'Wuthering Heights,' a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.
    Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff in ‘Wuthering Heights,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.

    With Linus Sandgren’s breathtaking cinematography – which soars, climbs, and gallops through beautifully desolate, foggy, and craggy locations in Yorkshire — Anthony Willis’ haunting score, and even the needle drops from Charli XcX (which sound anachronistic on paper but work here) all adding texture and immersion to the proceedings, Emerald Fennell and her cast have devised a truly towering romance in ‘Wuthering Heights.’

    Purists may grumble about certain aspects, but this is an adaptation based on a particular vision – a vision that adds a modern edge to a book that, while still universal in its themes, is now nearly two centuries old. Even if you don’t care personally for this extravagant, extraordinary film, it may introduce new generations to the source text – making Cathy and Heathcliff immortal all over again.

    ‘Wuthering Heights’ receives a score of 90 out of 100.

    'Wuthering Heights' opens in theaters on February 13th.
    ‘Wuthering Heights’ opens in theaters on February 13th.

    What is the plot of ‘Wuthering Heights’?

    In a crumbling estate on the West Yorkshire Moors, status-minded Catherine ‘Cathy’ Earnshaw and the mysterious Heathcliff pursue their tormented, passionate love for each other across the years, while wreaking havoc on both the Earnshaw family and their neighbors, the Lintons.

    Who is in the cast of ‘Wuthering Heights’?

    • Margot Robbie as Catherine ‘Cathy’ Earnshaw
    • Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff
    • Hong Chau as Nelly Dean
    • Shazad Latif as Edgar Linton
    • Alison Oliver as Isabella Linton
    • Martin Clunes as Mr. Earnshaw
    • Ewan Mitchell as Joseph
    • Charlotte Mellington as young Catherine
    • Owen Cooper as young Heathcliff
    • Vy Nguyen as young Nelly Dean
    Actor, Producer Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw in 'Wuthering Heights,' a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.
    Actor, Producer Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw in ‘Wuthering Heights,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.

    List of Margot Robbie Movies

    Buy Tickets: ‘Wuthering Heights’ Movie Showtimes

    Buy Margot Robbie Movies on Amazon

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  • Movie Review: ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’

    Amanda Seyfried in 'The Testament of Ann Lee'. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
    Amanda Seyfried in ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

    Opening in theaters on December 25 is ‘The Testament of Ann Lee,’ directed and co-written by Mona Fastvold and starring Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman, Thomasin McKenzie, Christopher Abbott, Stacy Martin, Scott Handy, Matthew Beard, Viola Prettejohn and Tim Blake Nelson.

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    Related Article: Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried Starring in Novel Adaptation ‘The Housemaid’

    Initial Thoughts

    Amanda Seyfried in 'The Testament of Ann Lee'. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
    Amanda Seyfried in ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

    You probably won’t see another movie like ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ this awards season or even this year. It’s a strange, often surreal, and numinous historical drama that’s frequently harrowing yet at times extremely moving. It’s also a musical of sorts, although many of the numbers are based on religious hymns and wouldn’t sound out of place in a folk horror film.

    Directed by Mona Fastvold and co-written by Fastvold with her longtime partner Brady Corbet – who directed 2024’s ‘The Brutalist,’ which the couple also co-wrote – ‘Ann Lee’ is, like that film, eerily immersive in its historical period and driven by a singular performance from its star. You simply cannot take your eyes off Amanda Seyfried in this film, even if other actors are somewhat sidelined and the film itself raises questions about its subject that are never really answered.

    Story and Direction

    (L to R) Mona Fastvold and Amanda Seyfried on the set of 'The Testament of Ann Lee'. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
    (L to R) Mona Fastvold and Amanda Seyfried on the set of ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

    Born in Manchester, England in 1736, Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried) is brought up in a strict religious household, one of eight children, and sent to work at an early age in a cotton factory. In her 20s, she joins a religious sect known as the Shakers – literally the ‘Shaking Quakers,’ an offshoot of the Quaker faith that expiates sin and expresses devotion to God through ecstatic shaking, dancing, and singing.

    After marrying an iron worker named Abraham (Christopher Abbott), being initiated into sex, and giving birth to four children who all die in infancy, Ann is committed to an asylum. These experiences, combined with a stint in prison for public evangelizing, trigger visions which result in her being deemed the second coming of Christ in female form.

    Now known as Mother Ann Lee, Ann establishes a doctrine for the Shakers that renounces all sexual activity, which does not sit well with Abraham. Yet the Shakers also believe in gender equality, pacifism, human rights (they are appalled by slavery), and community sharing. Increasingly persecuted in England, Ann, her devoted brother William (Lewis Pullman), and a small band of followers journey to the American colonies and settle in upstate New York – but their persecution doesn’t end there.

    Mona Fastvold with cast and crew on the set of 'The Testament of Ann Lee'. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
    Mona Fastvold with cast and crew on the set of ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

    Mona Fastvold presents all this in linear, straightforward fashion, adding surreal imagery and some showy camera moves to accentuate the more spiritual moments of Ann Lee’s life. The songs – a mix of chants, Shaker hymns, and folk melodies – are haunting enough to not clash with the film’s tone and esthetic, which veers from the pastoral to the brutal – the latter especially in the scenes where Ann gives birth, as well as a later, harrowing sequence of persecution and torture.

    Where Fastvold loses focus is the story’s meaning. The Shakers espoused some truly progressive ideals, and their dancing and shaking were indeed rapturous, even bordering (at least onscreen) on the erotic. That brings Ann’s whole rigid adherence to celibacy for her flock into question, along with her own mental state and the frankly cult-like piety of her followers.

    Was she channeling the divine, or was she suffering from trauma brought on by sexual dysfunction and the horrific loss of her children? How did her anti-sex mandate coexist with ‘be fruitful and multiply’? The film doesn’t make a strong case either way, and while it’s visually powerful and often dramatically moving, there’s a bit of an empty feeling at the end (especially when the closing credits reveal that there are only three Shakers left in the world today).

    Cast and Performances

    (L to R) Amanda Seyfried and Lewis Pullman in 'The Testament of Ann Lee'. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
    (L to R) Amanda Seyfried and Lewis Pullman in ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

    Amanda Seyfried has always been an exceptional actor, but she pushes herself to new heights in ‘Ann Lee.’ In a year full of raw performances by women like Rose Byrne, Jessie Buckley, and Jennifer Lawrence, Seyfried not only fearlessly embraces the extremes that are brought upon Ann – including graphically disastrous childbirths, beatings, and torture – but fully inhabits the spirituality and determination of the women.

    While whatever drove Ann Lee – whether it was a connection to the divine or the throes of mental illness – is open to debate, Seyfried never leaves any doubt of what Ann herself believes. Her subtle physical transformation and beautiful singing voice only add to what is nothing less than an epic performance.

    It’s a shame that many of the other characters and performers struggle to stand out in the shadow of Seyfried’s work, but Thomasin McKenzie makes an impression as her devoted assistant Mary and Lewis Pullman broadens his range as well with his portrayal of Ann’s fiercely loyal and devout brother William. Also notable is Christopher Abbott, whose face tells the story of a man who is slowly checking out of what he found so compelling about Ann and the Shaker beliefs – it’s too bad that he more or less disappears from the story halfway through.

    Final Thoughts

    Amanda Seyfried in 'The Testament of Ann Lee'. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
    Amanda Seyfried in ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

    Despite its thematic murkiness – and lapses in character development for everyone but its central figure – ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ is still a unique cinematic experience. We can’t say enough about Seyfried’s performance, and the film as a whole is a gripping, evocative experience.

    And setting aside the question of Ann’s convictions and the Shakers’ dedication to them, ‘Ann Lee’ is also a portrait of a woman trying to espouse and extend bold ideals and, of course, meeting resistance every step of the way. That she manages to create at least the beginnings of a truly egalitarian society, despite the odds and its own strange attributes, is akin in a way to the creation of such a challenging film itself.

    ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ receives a score of 85 out of 100.

    A scene from 'The Testament of Ann Lee'. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
    A scene from ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

    What is the plot of ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’?

    Visionary spiritual leader Ann Lee rises from obscurity in 18th century England to forge the radical religious movement that will become the Shakers. Driven by her beliefs and persecuted in two countries, Ann gathers devoted followers who come to see her as the female embodiment of Christ.

    Who is in the cast of ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’?

    • Amanda Seyfried as Ann Lee
    • Lewis Pullman as William Lee
    • Thomasin McKenzie as Mary Partington
    • Christopher Abbott as Abraham Standerin
    • Stacy Martin as Jane Wardley
    • Scott Handy as James Wardley
    • Matthew Beard as James Whittaker
    • Viola Prettejohn as Nancy Lee
    • Tim Blake Nelson as Pastor Reuben Wright
    'The Testament of Ann Lee' opens in theaters on December 25th.
    ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ opens in theaters on December 25th.

    List of Amanda Seyfried Movies and TV Shows

    Buy Tickets: ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ Movie Showtimes

    Buy Amanda Seyfried Movies on Amazon

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  • Movie Review: ‘The Secret Agent’

    Wagner Moura in 'The Secret Agent.' Photo: Neon.
    Wagner Moura in ‘The Secret Agent.’ Photo: Neon.

    In theaters on limited release from December 5 is ‘The Secret Agent’ a stirring political thriller and neo-history from Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho.

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    The cast is led by Wagner Moura (‘Narcos’), Carlos Francisco (‘Bacurau’), Tânia Maria and Robério Diógenes (‘Greta’).

    Related Article: Movie Review: ‘Civil War’

    Initial Thoughts

    Maria Fernanda Cândido in 'The Secret Agent.' Photo: Neon.
    Maria Fernanda Cândido in ‘The Secret Agent.’ Photo: Neon.

    If you’ve seen Wagner Moura show up in the likes of ‘Narcos,’ last year’s terrifying look at an riven America, ‘Civil War’ or any number of projects where he steals scenes in supporting roles, ‘The Secret Agent’ will convince you that he’s not only a great actor, but a star in the making.

    This collaboration with politically-minded director Kleber Mendonça Filho sets up him for a truly great performance, and he’s supported by an excellent ensemble for a movie that has been named as Brazil’s entry for Best International Feature Film at next year’s Oscars.

    Script and Direction

    Wagner Moura in 'The Secret Agent.' Photo: Neon.
    Wagner Moura in ‘The Secret Agent.’ Photo: Neon.

    Filho both wrote the script and directed this one, and it’s another winner from a filmmaker who already has some good movies on his resume.

    With ‘The Secret Agent,’ he digs into a troubled part of Brazil’s real past, adding fiction to harsh reality to portray a time when science and truth were under attack, while it feel urgently relevant to today’s audiences.

    The filmmaker smartly juggles three distinct time periods, but always keeps the story grounded in its characters and maintains the tension throughout while also finding time to show nuance and emotion.

    Cast and Performances

    (L to R): Wagner Moura, João Vitor Silva, Hermila Guedes, Isabél Zuaa, Licínio Januário and Ítalo Martins in 'The Secret Agent.' Photo: Neon.
    (L to R): Wagner Moura, João Vitor Silva, Hermila Guedes, Isabél Zuaa, Licínio Januário and Ítalo Martins in ‘The Secret Agent.’ Photo: Neon.

    Wagner Moura has long proved he’s got what it takes as an actor, but he’s rarely gotten a role as satisfying as this one. Roles, in fact, since he plays the main character, and also the man’s grown son in a timeline strand that weaves in and out of the main storyline.

    Yet while this is certainly Moura’s movie, that’s to take nothing away from the likes of Tânia Maria, who gives a powerhouse supporting performance as the kindly, yet steel-spined woman who helps Moura’s character when he goes into hiding.

    Around them are a blend of other “refugees” and the criminal elements hunting them down, and all the roles work well.

    Final Thoughts

    (L to R): Robério Diógenes, Wagner Moura and Igor de Araújo in 'The Secret Agent.' Photo: Neon.
    (L to R): Robério Diógenes, Wagner Moura and Igor de Araújo in ‘The Secret Agent.’ Photo: Neon.

    It’s not hard to see why this is Brazil’s Oscar entry – ‘The Secret Agent’ is an urgent, audacious and superbly realized movie that works on various levels.

    ‘The Secret Agent’ receives 90 out of 100.

    Wagner Moura in 'The Secret Agent.' Photo: Neon.
    Wagner Moura in ‘The Secret Agent.’ Photo: Neon.

    What’s the story of ‘The Secret Agent’?

    In 1977, a technology expert flees from a mysterious past and returns to his hometown of Recife in search of peace.

    He soon realizes that the city is far from being the refuge he seeks.

    Who is in the cast of ‘The Secret Agent’?

    • Wagner Moura as Armando/Marcelo Alves/Adult Fernando
    • Carlos Francisco as Sr. Alexandre
    • Tânia Maria as Dona Sebastiana
    • Robério Diógenes as Euclides
    • Maria Fernanda Cândido as Elza
    • Gabriel Leone as Bobbi
    Wagner Moura in 'The Secret Agent.' Photo: Neon.
    Wagner Moura in ‘The Secret Agent.’ Photo: Neon.

    Movies and TV Series Featuring Wagner Moura:

    Buy Tickets: ‘The Secret Agent’ Movie Showtimes

    Buy Wagner Moura Movies and TV on Amazon

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  • Movie Review: ‘Hamnet’

    (L to R) Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes and Joe Alwyn as Bartholomew in director Chloé Zhao’s 'Hamnet', a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
    (L to R) Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes and Joe Alwyn as Bartholomew in director Chloé Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’, a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

    Now in limited release and expanding on December 5 is ‘Hamnet,’ directed by Chloe Zhao and starring Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, David Wilmot, Olivia Lynes, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, and Jacobi Jupe.

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    Related Article: Ridley Scott to Reunite with ‘Gladiator II’ Star Paul Mescal for Post-Apocalyptic Adventure ‘The Dog Stars’

    Initial Thoughts

    (L to R) Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes and Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare in director Chloé Zhao’s 'Hamnet', a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
    (L to R) Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes and Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare in director Chloé Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’, a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

    Every frame of ‘Hamnet’ is beautifully designed and captured by director Chloe Zhao (‘Eternals’) and her team, rendering England during the life and times of William Shakespeare in both ethereal and grimy terms. Life is hard, but also mysterious, and those who still connect with the forces of nature are an increasingly rare breed – like Anne ‘Agnes’ Hathaway (Jessie Buckley), who becomes the Bard’s wife and is the true center of ‘Hamnet.’

    Agnes, the daughter of an alleged ‘forest witch,’ is both luminously beautiful and slightly feral, which makes her all-intoxicating for Shakespeare himself (Paul Mescal). ‘Hamnet’ chronicles that passion, their deep love, and the creation of their family in poignantly simple terms – until tragedy rips at their very core. But that tragedy also manifests itself in a way that reverberates through history, and it’s only when that happens that ‘Hamnet’ wobbles, with the film not providing enough time for that aspect of the story to breathe and take root in the same way that its first part does.

    Story and Direction

    (L to R) Actors Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal with director Chloé Zhao on the set of their film 'Hamnet', a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
    (L to R) Actors Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal with director Chloé Zhao on the set of their film ‘Hamnet’, a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

    A young William Shakespeare is drawn to the magnetic Agnes (pronounced ANN-yes) in 16th century Stratford, and after a quick courtship they’re going at it hot and heavy in a stable. That leaves Agnes pregnant with the first of their three children, initiating a marriage that is frowned upon by Shakespeare’s brutish father (David Wilmot) and stern mother (Emily Watson). But William, Agnes, and their children – Susanna, and the twins Judith and Hamnet – find happiness in their existence, even if William has to travel frequently to London to write and produce his plays.

    It’s only when the unimaginable (at least for us; it was much more common then) hits the clan, resulting in the death of perhaps the most precocious family member, that the clan’s entire dynamic is in danger of disintegrating – particularly as a shattered Agnes begins to bitterly resent her husband for not being there for that child’s last moments, and for throwing himself into his work instead of sharing in her grief. But William has his own method for dealing with the loss and his unspeakable anguish – and it expresses itself through the creation of one of his greatest plays (at least according to this movie, and the Maggie O’Farrell novel it was based on; the truth, as with many aspects of the real Shakespeare’s life, remains elusive).

    (L to R) Jacobi Jupe stars as Hamnet, Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Susanna and Olivia Lynes as Judith in director Chloé Zhao’s 'Hamnet', a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
    (L to R) Jacobi Jupe stars as Hamnet, Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Susanna and Olivia Lynes as Judith in director Chloé Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’, a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

    For its first two-thirds, ‘Hamnet’ builds a magnificent edifice of love, emotion, and empathy that borders on the mystical, primarily through the force of nature that is Jessie Buckley’s Agnes. Her love for William – and his reciprocation – is the core of the movie’s first act, with their endearing family life the center of its second. It all comes crashing down during an extended, agonizing sequence in which Agnes’ feral, soul-crushing response is a heartbreaking howl of loss that could reverberate through the soul of every parent.

    After reaching that height of sorrow, Zhao doesn’t completely find a way to balance the scales, or at least give the rest of the narrative the weight it deserves. Agnes’ fury toward William doesn’t seem earned – even if he becomes a distant figure during the middle of the film — and her journey during the closing sequences, both physical as she travels to London to see what the hell her husband is doing there and psychological as she sees his latest play and realizes where it’s coming from, seems rushed. Where ‘Hamnet’ should reach a powerful crescendo of forgiveness and acceptance, it never quite brings down the house, leaving one feeling like something’s missing.

    Cast and Performances

    Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes in director Chloé Zhao’s 'Hamnet', a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
    Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes in director Chloé Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’, a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

    Whatever the flaws in narrative structure, there are none whatsoever in Jessie Buckley’s performance. She has been cited as the favorite to take home an Oscar this year and there’s no question about it. We meet Agnes curled at the base of a tree; she returns to that tree to give birth to her first child. The woman is connected to nature in ways both beautiful and enigmatic, and Buckley captures every aspect of her – her mystical nature, her undeniable charisma, her fierce love, and her excruciating grief – just right. It’s a powerhouse piece of work, and although it’s one of several delivered by women this year, it will be hard to top.

    We were somewhat soured on Paul Mescal after his miscasting in ‘Gladiator II,’ but he’s returned to our good graces here. Mescal’s Shakespeare, while not nearly as present onscreen as Agnes, is nevertheless a complex presence, a man torn between his love for his family and the work that takes him away from them, both physically and mentally. Mescal’s portrayal here is soulful and empathetic, giving us a glimpse into the beating heart of one of literature’s greatest geniuses (there’s only one scene, in which he spouts some of his most famous lines while considering the end of his own life, that doesn’t ring true).

    Attention must be paid as well to Emily Watson’s Mary Shakespeare, whose relationship with Agnes evolves from dour disapproval to love and understanding, and especially Jacobi Jupe as Hamnet Shakespeare, about whom we’ll say little but who also rips one’s heart out during several key scenes.

    Final Thoughts

    Paul Mescal stars as William Shakespeare in director Chloé Zhao’s 'Hamnet', a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
    Paul Mescal stars as William Shakespeare in director Chloé Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

    Chloe Zhao seems most comfortable as a director in exploring the human psyche, the depths of our emotion and empathy, and the intimacy of our connection to both other people and the world around us. Perhaps that’s why her sole attempt to date at spectacle, ‘Eternals,’ didn’t quite work, while films like ‘Nomadland’ are so powerful.

    She re-centers herself here with ‘Hamnet,’ finding all the elements of her best work while adding a powerful message about the ways in which we process grief and how the creation of art can channel the deepest and most intense of human emotions. Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ is not a recreation of events in the Bard’s life (which may or may not have happened as they do in this film), and neither is Chloe Zhao’s ‘Hamnet.’ But both take on a single, universal query: can art can provide empathy, understanding, and even healing? That is the question indeed.

    ‘Hamnet’ receives a score of 85 out of 100.

    Paul Mescal stars as William Shakespeare in director Chloé Zhao’s 'Hamnet', a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
    Paul Mescal stars as William Shakespeare in director Chloé Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’, a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

    What is the plot of ‘Hamnet’?

    William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and Anne ‘Agnes’ Hathaway (Jessie Buckley) marry and have three children, until the family is shattered by an unthinkable tragedy that leads to the writing of one of the Bard’s greatest plays.

    Who is in the cast of ‘Hamnet’?

    • Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare
    • Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare
    • Emily Watson as Mary Shakespeare
    • Joe Alwyn as Bartholomew Hathaway
    • Jacobi Jupe as Hamnet Shakespeare
    • David Wilmot as John Shakespeare
    • Olivia Lynes as Judith Shakespeare
    • Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Susanna Shakespeare
    'Hamnet' opens in theaters on November 26th.
    ‘Hamnet’ opens in theaters on November 26th.

    List of Jessie Buckley Movies and TV Shows:

    Buy Tickets: ‘Hamnet’ Movie Showtimes

    Buy Jessie Buckley Movies on Amazon

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  • Movie Review: ‘Die My Love’

    (L to R) Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson in 'Die My Love'. Photo Seamus McGarvey/Mubi.
    (L to R) Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson in ‘Die My Love’. Photo Seamus McGarvey/Mubi.

    Opening in theaters November 7 is ‘Die My Love,’ directed by Lynne Ramsay and starring Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, Sissy Spacek, LaKeith Stanfield, Gabrielle Rose, and Nick Nolte.

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    Related Article: Robert Pattinson Being Considered for Cast of Third ‘Dune’ Movie

    Initial Thoughts

    Jennifer Lawrence in 'Die My Love'. Photo Kimberley French/Mubi.
    Jennifer Lawrence in ‘Die My Love’. Photo Kimberley French/Mubi.

    Lynne Ramsay has written and directed only five feature films in 26 years, and ‘Die My Love’ comes eight years after her previous effort, 2017’s ‘You Were Never Really Here.’ Based on Ariana Harwicz’s 2012 novel of the same name, ‘Die My Love’ treads similar psychological ground as some of Ramsay’s earlier films, with this one portraying both postpartum depression and the dissolution of an unhappy marriage.

    But despite an incendiary performance from Jennifer Lawrence, and strong support from Robert Pattinson and Sissy Spacek, ‘Die My Love’ never really takes off. It’s filmed incredibly well – by now a Ramsay trademark – and has a string of powerful moments, yet at some point it settles into a kind of cyclical structure that just ends up repeating itself, making for an initially absorbing but frustrating viewing experience.

    Story and Direction

    Director Lynne Ramsay on the set of 'Die My Love'. Photo Kimberley French/Mubi.
    Director Lynne Ramsay on the set of ‘Die My Love’. Photo Kimberley French/Mubi.

    The film opens inside the decaying, shabby farmhouse that Grace (Lawrence) and Jackson (Pattinson) are moving into, which we learn belonged to Jackson’s uncle before he offed himself upstairs. But the only ghosts in the house are the ones in Grace’s head. They’ve moved to the middle of nowhere in Montana to get out of city life and let Grace concentrate on writing a novel, while one-time musician Jackson settles into a job as a truck driver that takes him away for days at a time.

    At first they romp around the house like playful, overgrown children, sexing and drinking with relish, but once Grace gets pregnant and gives birth, all that comes to an end – even though Grace is still horny, Jackson doesn’t want anything to do with that and his trips get even longer. That leaves Grace alone with the baby and her own increasingly fractured and tormented thoughts – which soon turn into increasingly destructive actions that seem to tip into full-blown psychosis.

    Director Lynne Ramsay on the set of 'Die My Love'. Photo Kimberley French/Mubi.
    Director Lynne Ramsay on the set of ‘Die My Love’. Photo Kimberley French/Mubi.

    Is it the loneliness or the postpartum depression that does Grace in? It’s left ambiguous, but we suspect the former more than the latter. Either way, whether she literally tears the bathroom apart or has a quick (possibly imaginary) fling with the biker down the road (a barely there LaKeith Stanfield), Grace is on a downward spiral – until she isn’t. She gets better for a bit, and then does it all again, rinse and repeat.

    And that’s ultimately the problem with ‘Die My Love’: it ends up chasing its own tail, becoming more stylized and self-indulgent as it goes along and less interesting to watch. Jackson and his mom, Pam (Sissy Spacek) try to help but seem hapless in the face of Grace’s force-of-nature rush to set her whole life on fire (dog lovers beware: things don’t end well for the family pet). There are moments of clarity and beauty and profundity, but they’re fleeting in an otherwise exhausting catalog of erratic behavior that portrays mental illness as a kind of Grand Guignol.

    Cast and Performances

    (L to R) Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson in 'Die My Love'. Photo: Kimberley French/Mubi.
    (L to R) Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson in ‘Die My Love’. Photo: Kimberley French/Mubi.

    Jennifer Lawrence is at her best when she just lets raw emotion and impulse pour out of her, which makes ‘Die My Love’ something of a tour de force. Unafraid to bare her flesh and equally fearless about getting it dirty and bloodied, Lawrence plunges headlong into the role of Grace with fervor, keeping your eyes glued on her even when the rest of the movie falters. She approaches the character with both dark humor and grim abandon, daring the viewer to stay with her on the ride – and succeeding through her strength as an actor alone.

    Robert Pattinson does his best here, but Jackson is simply not as present, either physically or psychically, and the character is merely reactive to whatever Grace throws at him. Sissy Spacek injects some empathy into the proceedings, but in a similar fashion, the role of Pam is not developed enough. It’s also a shame we don’t see more of Nick Nolte as Jackson’s dementia-addled father, whose few moments onscreen are moving.

    Final Thoughts

    Jennifer Lawrence in 'Die My Love'. Photo Kimberley French/Mubi.
    Jennifer Lawrence in ‘Die My Love’. Photo Kimberley French/Mubi.

    ‘Die My Love’ is the second movie this season about a young mother cracking under the strain, with ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’ also making the experience a harrowing one. The films both use dark humor and surreal imagery, but differ in important ways: Grace, in her own fashion, embraces motherhood, while Rose Byrne’s Linda in ‘If I Had Legs’ admits at a pivotal moment that she didn’t want to be a mother in the first place.

    It’s up to the individual viewer how relatable each performance is, but the work by both actors is Oscar-worthy even if neither film develops a clear narrative or theme. In the meantime, ‘Die My Love’ is Lynne Ramsay’s most internalized film since her early efforts ‘Ratcatcher’ and ‘Morvern Callar,’ and perhaps her most difficult to embrace – and even a harder one to love.

    ‘Die My Love’ receives a score of 65 out of 100.

    (L to R) Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson in 'Die My Love'. Photo: Kimberley French/Mubi.
    (L to R) Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson in ‘Die My Love’. Photo: Kimberley French/Mubi.

    What is the plot of ‘Die My Love’?

    Grace and Jackson move from New York City to Jackson’s rural childhood home in Montana in search of a quieter life. As they adjust to their new surroundings and become parents, Grace begins to struggle with feelings of isolation and psychological distress. Her deteriorating mental health gradually drives their marriage into unsettling and unpredictable territory.

    Who is in the cast of ‘Die My Love’?

    • Jennifer Lawrence as Grace
    • Robert Pattinson as Jackson
    • Sissy Spacek as Pam
    • LaKeith Stanfield as Karl
    • Nick Nolte as Harry
    • Gabrielle Rose as Jen
    • Debs Howard as Marsha
    • Sarah Lind as Cheryl
    Director Lynne Ramsay on the set of 'Die My Love'. Photo: Mubi.
    Director Lynne Ramsay on the set of ‘Die My Love’. Photo: Mubi.

    Other Lynne Ramsay Movies:

    Buy Tickets: ‘Die My Love’ Movie Showtimes

    Buy Jennifer Lawrence Movies on Amazon

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  • Movie Review: ‘Sentimental Value’

    (L to R) Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning in 'Sentimental Value'. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.
    (L to R) Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning in ‘Sentimental Value’. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.

    Opening in theaters November 7 is ‘Sentimental Value,’ directed by Joachim Trier and starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Anders Danielsen Lie, Cory Michael Smith, Catherine Cohen, and Elle Fanning.

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    Related Article:  ‘A Different Man’ Tackles Issues of Identity with Compassion and Humor

    Initial Thoughts

    (L to R) Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in 'Sentimental Value'. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.
    (L to R) Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in ‘Sentimental Value’. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.

    Easily one of the best films of the year, ‘Sentimental Value’ is Joachim Trier’s follow-up to 2021’s ‘The Worst Person in the World,’ a character study disguised as a bittersweet rom-com. ‘Sentimental Value’ is also bittersweet, but it’s no romantic comedy: instead, it dissects the complicated relationship between a narcissistic but aging filmmaker and his two daughters in the wake of their mother’s death.

    ‘Sentimental Value’ gets at some universal truths about all families, parents, and children, and presents each of its four main characters in nuanced shades, letting us see them at their best and not so finest. While the film might be too casually paced and narratively loose for some, this is ultimately a rich, engrossing, deeply moving tale of what happens when family becomes fodder for art, and everything that spins out of that.

    Story and Direction

    (L to R) Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning in 'Sentimental Value'. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.
    (L to R) Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning in ‘Sentimental Value’. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.

    Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård) is a once highly-regarded filmmaker whose best years are behind him and who hasn’t been able to get a film financed for 15 years. He returns to his family home in Oslo, Norway for the funeral of his ex-wife, where he attempts to reconnect with his two daughters, actor Nora (Renate Reinsve) and her sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) who has a more stable job as a historian and a husband and child.

    But Gustav is also after more than just re-establishing the tattered relationship he has with the two daughters he left behind: he has written a new film – apparently an incredible script – and wants Nora to star in it. However, she wants nothing to do with the film or her father. Thanks to a fortuitous meeting, he instead enlists a young American star named Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning). With Rachel attached, Netflix comes calling – but something about the entire project feels off.

    Renate Reinsve in 'Sentimental Value'. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.
    Renate Reinsve in ‘Sentimental Value’. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.

    Through a string of beautifully composed scenes, Joachim Trier (working from a script he co-wrote with Eskil Vogt) slowly peels back the layers of each of these characters, revealing the multi-dimensional people at the heart of a very intimate story about how the compulsion to create art can be both healing and disruptive. We find out that Gustav’s script is about his mother, who survived Nazi atrocities only to take her own life in the very home in which he wants to film – a personal expression of anguish he’s held all these years. But the screenplay is also about his daughters, and as we find out more about them, we learn that this family has been shattered in multiple ways.

    All this is eloquently and elegantly shot in gorgeous Oslo, with the Borg house at the center of the story both a place of stability and a ghost from the past. With warmth, some sly humor (mostly poking fun at the movie business), and a story that lays bare some raw emotions while not providing easy solutions, ‘Sentimental Value’ is an engrossing drama that makes one want to spend more time with the Borg family.

    Cast and Performances

    (L to R) Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve in 'Sentimental Value'. Photo: Christian Belgaux.
    (L to R) Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve in ‘Sentimental Value’. Photo: Christian Belgaux.

    All four leads in this film are impeccable, starting with the great Renate Reinsve and the global treasure that is Stellan Skarsgård. Coming off ‘The Worst Person in the World’ and last year’s ‘A Different Man,’ Reinsve once again displays her ability to make the work of acting literally invisible, while fully inhabiting the character she portrays. Nora is complicated and troubled – she is an exceptional actress but has extreme anxiety attacks before going onstage – and unable to get everything in her life lined up, but also possessed of charm, wit, and an underlying darkness that is hinted at but perceptible.

    As for Skarsgård, this may be the Swedish veteran’s masterpiece: Gustav is also charming, talented, and witty, but possessed of a high self-regard, a condescension toward others, and an almost childish temper. A scene in which he visits his one-time cinematographer, only to realize that the man might be too old to work anymore, is acting perfection: just with the subtle expression on his face, Skarsgård shows us both Gustav’s disappointment and fear – he’s seeing his own potential future. And underneath his still-cocky surface lies a deep grief – which he is unable to express without a camera. This is brilliant, Oscar-worthy stuff all the way.

    Credit also to Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as the practical sister from whom Nora is somewhat estranged as well, but who still has a deep love for both sibling and parent, and Elle Fanning (having a heck of a fall with this and ‘Predator: Badlands’), whose Rachel Kemp exhibits depth and sensitivity that, in a lesser film, would be replaced by a simple Hollywood brat.

    Final Thoughts

    Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in 'Sentimental Value'. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.
    Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in ‘Sentimental Value’. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.

    Joachim Trier keeps mining everyday human relationships for maximum complexity while presenting his stories with an easygoing clarity that’s hard to not enjoy. ‘Sentimental Value’ continues that tradition, and while it’s ironically not sentimental at all, it’s still deeply moving in its understanding of how grief and sadness can be both fodder for great art and fuel for slow self-destruction.

    ‘Sentimental Value’ receives a score of 95 out of 100.

    'Sentimental Value' opens in theaters on November 7th.
    ‘Sentimental Value’ opens in theaters on November 7th.

    What is the plot of ‘Sentimental Value’?

    The fractured relationship between an acclaimed director and his two estranged daughters becomes even more complicated when he decides to make a personal film about their family history.

    Who is in the cast of ‘Sentimental Value’?

    • Stellan Skarsgård as Gustav Borg
    • Renate Reinsve as Nora Borg
    • Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Agnes Borg Pettersen
    • Elle Fanning as Rachel Kemp
    • Anders Danielsen Lie as Jakob
    • Cory Michael Smith as Sam
    • Catherine Cohen as Nicky
    • Andreas Stoltenberg Granerud as Even
    Stellan Skarsgård in 'Sentimental Value'. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.
    Stellan Skarsgård in ‘Sentimental Value’. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.

    List of Stellan Skarsgard Movies and TV Shows

    Buy Tickets: ‘Sentimental Value’ Movie Showtimes

    Buy Stellan Skarsgård Movies on Amazon

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  • Movie Review: ‘Christy’

    Sydney Sweeney in 'Christy'. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.
    Sydney Sweeney in ‘Christy’. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.

    Opening in theaters November 7 is ‘Christy,’ directed by David Michôd and starring Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, Katy O’Brian, Ethan Embry, Jess Gabor, and Chad L. Coleman.

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    Related Article: First Images of Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried in ‘The Housemaid’

    Initial Thoughts

    Sydney Sweeney in 'Christy'. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.
    Sydney Sweeney in ‘Christy’. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.

    There are two films out now based on the true stories of professional fighters: one, ‘The Smashing Machine,’ focuses on its subject (MMA fighter Mark Kerr) and his addiction, while the other, ‘Christy,’ chronicles the career of the first major female boxer, Christy Martin (Sydney Sweeney), as well as her abusive marriage to her trainer and manager.

    ‘The Smashing Machine’ doesn’t follow the usual biopic route, hopping through random moments in Kerr’s life in kaleidoscopic fashion but leaving us wondering just who he really was. ‘Christy’ follows the standard biopic formula – the rise, fall, and rise again of its subject in linear fashion – and while it doesn’t break the mold of those tropes, it’s ultimately the more affecting film because of its protagonist, her resiliency, and two incendiary performances from its stars.

    Story and Direction

    (L to R) Sydney Sweeney and director David Michôd in 'Christy'. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.
    (L to R) Sydney Sweeney and director David Michôd in ‘Christy’. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.

    We first meet Christy Salters (later Martin) when she wins a local boxing match for the princely sum of $300 and a jacket. But her parents (Ethan Embry and a quietly vicious Merritt Wever) are more concerned with the rumors that their daughter is dating another local girl named Rosie (Jess Gabor as a fictionalized version of the real person). When Christy gets a call from a regional boxing promoter, it’s a chance to get some space of her own and learn whether boxing is really ‘her thing’ or not.

    Enter trainer Jim Martin (Ben Foster), who is at first dismissive of the idea of training a woman until he sees Christy knock a sparring partner out cold. Martin trains Christy and ultimately marries her, but her rocket-like rise to fame and fortune as the first major female boxing star is only matched by the increasingly controlling and abusive behavior of the toxic, tightly-wound Martin, who sees Christy as less a partner and soulmate and more a meal ticket he can shove around.

    Christy’s ascent, peak, and eventual downfall are documented by director David Michôd (‘Animal Kingdom,’ ‘War Machine’) in standard fashion. There are the early scenes of her going-nowhere life, her conflicts with family, training and fighting montages, and eventually financial and drug problems (Christy claims later that Martin got her addicted to coke to keep her under his thumb). There’s nothing exceptional about the way the story is structured and even the boxing scenes, while well-staged, don’t bring anything new to the table.

    What gives ‘Christy’ its power is the dark road it goes down in its second half, as the relationship between Christy and the malignant Martin curdles into something dangerous and climaxes in a sequence that is outright shocking. But the seeds for this are planted early on, and not just through the dynamic with Martin: so much of the movie shows how men – from her own loving but hapless father to boxing promoter Don King – condescended to Christy from the start. Martin tells her how to dress, how long her hair should be, and who she can talk to, but her family tells her who she can date and King tells her to sign a contract without having a lawyer read it.

    Most biopics that follow the rise/fall/rise formula don’t have a person at their center who went through what Christy Salters when through – being left for dead both professionally and literally at one point. That things get to that point – and yet she manages to literally walk out of it all on her own two feet – gives ‘Christy’ an extra power that gives it an extra boost in a genre that’s been running on fumes for a while.

    Cast and Performances

    (L to R) Ben Foster and Sydney Sweeney in 'Christy'. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.
    (L to R) Ben Foster and Sydney Sweeney in ‘Christy’. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.

    Sydney Sweeney is a formidable young actor, and ‘Christy’ may be her best big-screen work to date. She is almost unrecognizable at first, but more than capably projects Christy’s drive, determination, and self-assurance, as well as her fear and inner vulnerability. Sweeney also handles herself quite well in the boxing scenes and bulks up a bit to create Christy’s physical presence. The wigs representing Christy’s hairstyles throughout the years may be the only flaw in her transformation here. Otherwise she is absorbing as this not always likable but still empathetic figure, and brings a raw level of pain to her work.

    Seeing Ben Foster’s name in a movie sends a signal that there is an extreme, often repressed and/or unpredictable character afoot, but he ups even his impressive intensity with his immersive work as the vile Jim Martin. From his wheedling initial manipulation of Christy to his later dead-eyed psychosis, Martin goes from distasteful to horrifying over the course of the story and is believable every step of the way. He and Sweeney could both be in the Oscar race if ‘Christy’ gains some traction.

    Merritt Wever (‘Nurse Jackie’) plays Christy’s homophobic mother Joyce with an enraging soft-spoken cruelty, while Katy O’Brian (‘Love Lies Bleeding’) delivers some welcome humanity and warmth as boxer Lisa Holewyne. Chad Coleman brings the comic relief as Don King, while we wish we saw more of Christy’s father as played by a sad-eyed Ethan Embry.

    Final Thoughts

    Sydney Sweeney at the 77TH EMMY® AWARDS, broadcasting live to both coasts from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, Sunday, Sept. 14, (8:00-11:00 PM, LIVE ET/5:00-8:00 PM, LIVE PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+.Photo: Francis Specker/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    Sydney Sweeney at the 77TH EMMY® AWARDS, broadcasting live to both coasts from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, Sunday, Sept. 14, (8:00-11:00 PM, LIVE ET/5:00-8:00 PM, LIVE PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+.Photo: Francis Specker/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    ‘Christy’ is a boxing picture from a different perspective. It’s not ‘Rocky’ or ‘Raging Bull.’ While the characters in those movies face considerable challenges, they are never denigrated for their sexuality or abused by a borderline psychotic narcissist and degenerate. Christy’s fate is sadly no different from that of so many other women – she just meets it in a profession and climate that is stacked against her.

    The movie leaves some questions unanswered: her wicked mother aside, did her father and brother try to intervene, or was she too afraid to tell them? What happened with Rosie, the only person who helped her in her darkest hour? The limitations of the format leave some plot threads unclear and condense a lot of the narrative’s action as it skips from ‘this happened’ to ‘that happened.’ But the bruising battle outside the ring is what ultimately makes ‘Christy,’ if not a knockout, a win on points all the same.

    ‘Christy’ receives a score of 80 out of 100.

    'Christy' opens in theaters on November 7th.
    ‘Christy’ opens in theaters on November 7th.

    What is the plot of ‘Christy’?

    Determined to win, Christy Martin (Sydney Sweeney) leaves behind her small-town roots and charges into the world of boxing under the guidance of her trainer and manager-turned-husband, Jim (Ben Foster). But her toughest battles unfold outside the ring — confronting family, identity, and a relationship that just might become deadly.

    Who is in the cast of ‘Christy’?

    • Sydney Sweeney as Christy Martin
    • Ben Foster as James V. Martin
    • Merritt Wever as Joyce Salters
    • Katy O’Brian as Lisa Holewyne
    • Ethan Embry as John Salters
    • Jess Gabor as Rosie
    • Chad L. Coleman as Don King
    • Tony Cavalero as James Maloney
    • Bryan Hibbard as Big Jeff
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    Sydney Sweeney Movies and TV Shows:

    Buy Tickets: ‘Christy’ Movie Showtimes

    Buy Sydney Sweeney Movies on Amazon

  • Movie Review: ‘The Smashing Machine’

    Dwayne Johnson stars in 'The Smashing Machine'. Photo: A24.
    Dwayne Johnson stars in ‘The Smashing Machine’. Photo: A24.

    Opening in theaters October 3 is ‘The Smashing Machine,’ directed by Benny Safdie and starring Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, Oleksandr Usyk, and Satoshi Ishii.

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    Related Article: Dwayne Johnson and Director Benny Safdie Teaming Up for ‘Lizard Music’

    Initial Thoughts

    Dwayne Johnson in 'The Smashing Machine'. Photo: A24.
    Dwayne Johnson in ‘The Smashing Machine’. Photo: A24.

    Not nearly as pleasurably anxiety-inducing as his previous films with brother Josh, Benny Safdie’s solo directing debut finds the filmmaker enabling star Dwayne Johnson’s push into the realm of ‘serious actor’ – and on that level, ‘The Smashing Machine’ is a success. The Rock rises to the occasion here with his measured, compelling, and complex portrayal of real-life UFC fighter Mark Kerr, showing vulnerability and humanity that he has largely not explored in his action-heavy resume to date.

    As a film overall, ‘The Smashing Machine’ – based extensively on the 2002 HBO documentary of the same name – is less effective. It lacks context for Kerr’s story, which may leave viewers not familiar with the UFC or MMA bewildered, and it’s episodic in nature, weaving the highs and lows of Kerr’s career from 1997 to 2000 around his fraught, co-dependent relationship with girlfriend (and eventual wife, then ex-wife) Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt). Take away Johnson’s absorbing performance, and it’s a standard sports biopic with a weirdly muted energy.

    Story and Direction

    (L to R) Director Benny Safdie and Dwayne Johnson and on the set of 'The Smashing Machine'. Photo: A24.
    (L to R) Director Benny Safdie and Dwayne Johnson and on the set of ‘The Smashing Machine’. Photo: A24.

    Safdie seems to take a lot of incidents and even lines of dialogue from ‘The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr,’ the HBO documentary, and his tendency to film in a cinema-verité style brings this film even closer aesthetically to the 2002 doc. The main difference, of course, is that this version features Dwayne Johnson as Kerr, and while we don’t get a lot of backstory on either him or his chosen field, we are nevertheless drawn into his struggle.

    Kerr fights on several fronts even when he’s not in the ring. He’s a soft-spoken, gentle, kind man with a vulnerable center – he won’t even go on certain amusement park rides because they’ll hurt his ‘tummy’ – yet he’s also possessed of a deep inner rage that will explode out of nowhere and result in a bedroom door smashed to splinters on the floor. He doesn’t know how to handle defeat because he’s ‘never lost,’ even saying so in an interview before a match in Japan (where he frequently fought). Yet this is also a man who grudgingly realizes that he can’t win all the time, a realization borne out in the film’s final scenes.

    Opioids and Dawn are what Kerr battles the most, the former for the pain and wear of his profession and the latter for the pain and wear of co-dependency. In several instances, Dawn comes out into their living room to find him sitting in a stupor, staring at the TV. She’s no angel herself when it comes to substances, with Kerr stunned late in the film when she refuses to stay away from the goodies herself in support of his emergence from rehab. ‘You’re no fun anymore!’ she shrieks at him with almost deliberate cruelty, despite Kerr’s earlier descent into addiction being nothing less than harrowing.

    (L to R) Emily Blunt, Dwayne Johnson and director Benny Safdie on the set of 'The Smashing Machine'. Photo: A24.
    (L to R) Emily Blunt, Dwayne Johnson and director Benny Safdie on the set of ‘The Smashing Machine’. Photo: A24.

    The brawls inside the ring are less emotionally fraught but more physically brutal. Boxing may be the ‘sweet science,’ but UFC fighting is frankly nothing less than barbaric. Yet the fighters themselves are respectful to each other outside the ring, even friends, which provides its own touching moments.

    Safdie shoots all this, as mentioned earlier, in a somewhat detached documentary style, but the compilation of incidents from Kerr’s life and career never take on an organic momentum of their own. That may be Safdie in part trying to avoid the usual rise-fall-return of most sports biopics (and biopics in general), which is commendable. But he still can’t avoid a number of the tropes and the film almost fights itself, trying to show a documentary restraint yet not quite reaching any real emotional heights – except in Johnson’s raw performance.

    Cast and Performances

    (L to R) Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt star in 'The Smashing Machine'. Photo: A24.
    (L to R) Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt star in ‘The Smashing Machine’. Photo: A24.

    ‘Raw’ is really the right word for Dwayne Johnson’s performance (which does bring to mind the Safdies’ reinvention of Adam Sandler in ‘Uncut Gems’), and fans may be unnerved to see him sobbing at several points in the film. Wearing prosthetics to bury himself more in the role, Johnson visibly digs deep and delivers, even if the viewer is aware that he’s also thinking about his award-season run.

    Emily Blunt’s Dawn Staples is a problematic and not especially sympathetic character; while Blunt throws herself into the part (their biggest fight, climaxing in a bathroom, is intense and even frightening), the character is difficult because she’s either subservient to Kerr or selfishly manipulative toward him. Dawn is both exasperating and the typical ‘girlfriend/wife’ we see in sports biopics, but the movie never quite burrows under her skin.

    Much of the rest of the film – in keeping with Safdie’s seeming desire to replicate as much of the documentary as possible – is cast with real people from the world of MMA and UFC playing either themselves or fictionalized versions of other real people. Ryan Bader in particular is quite good as Kerr’s former friend Mark Coleman, bringing sensitivity, decency, and honesty to a character whose loyalty Kerr constantly tests.

    Final Thoughts

    Dwayne Johnson stars in 'The Smashing Machine'. Photo: A24.
    Dwayne Johnson stars in ‘The Smashing Machine’. Photo: A24.

    As we said at the top of this review, the main focus of ‘The Smashing Machine’ – Dwayne Johnson’s transformative performance – is what works best. Which is a good thing, both for him and the movie, although no doubt debates will rage over whether this is a shameless bid for awards recognition from an actor whose chops – like those of fellow wrestlers-turned-actors John Cena and Dave Bautista – have not always been taken seriously.

    Still, Johnson does step up, although in the end ‘The Smashing Machine’ itself is serviceable, occasionally fascinating, and intermittently moving. We’re not sure what the film says in the end: Mark Kerr was a UFC and MMA pioneer before they became cultural behemoths, and in a sense he was passed by as a result. But since that has been chronicled already in a documentary, does a narrative version have a point? That’s the barrier ‘The Smashing Machine’ struggles to break through.

    ‘The Smashing Machine’ receives a score of 75 out of 100.

    (L to R) Director Benny Safdie, Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson on the set of 'The Smashing Machine'. Photo: A24.
    (L to R) Director Benny Safdie, Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson on the set of ‘The Smashing Machine’. Photo: A24.

    What is the plot of ‘The Smashing Machine’?

    Legendary mixed martial arts and UFC fighter Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson) battles addiction, injuries, and other challenges to his career, while also entwined in a dysfunctional relationship with his girlfriend Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt).

    Who is in the cast of ‘The Smashing Machine’?

    Dwayne Johnson as Mark Kerr
    Emily Blunt as Dawn Staples
    Ryan Bader as Mark Coleman
    Bas Rutten as himself
    Oleksandr Usyk as Igor Vovchanchyn
    Lyndsey Gavin as Elizabeth Coleman
    Satoshi Ishii as Enson Inoue

    Dwayne Johnson stars in 'The Smashing Machine'. Photo: A24.
    Dwayne Johnson stars in ‘The Smashing Machine’. Photo: A24.

    List of Dwayne Johnson Movies:

    Buy Tickets: ‘The Smashing Machine’ Movie Showtimes

    Buy Dwayne Johnson Movies On Amazon

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  • 2023 Oscar Nominations Announced

    Michelle Yeoh in 'Everything Everywhere All at Once.'
    Michelle Yeoh in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ Photo Credit: Courtesy of A24.

    If anyone was concerned that a film featuring multiverses, sensual use of hot dog fingers and a fight involving butt plugs might be too weird for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, those concerns were put to one side this morning as ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ stormed the Oscar nominations with an impressive 11 nods.

    We’ll wait to see how many of those nominations are converted into wins come Oscar night, but it’s a welcome show of support for the scrappy film that could which has gone on to become a major awards contender, winning plenty for directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert and stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, the latter of whom is surely the favorite as Best Supporting Actor. It’s also nice to see fellow co-star Stephanie Hsu up for Best Supporting Actress.

    Elsewhere, fellow front-runners and awards hoovers ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ and ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ got nine nominations each, and both seem likely to take something home. ‘Elvis’ is nipping at their heels with eight, and star Austin Butler remains a potential Best Actor winner.

    Austin Butler as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's 'Elvis.' Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros.
    Austin Butler as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis.’ Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros.

    On the big blockbuster front, it was a case of mixed fortunes, much like the box office of late. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ both made it into Best Picture and several technical categories, while ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ couldn’t repeat the trick of the first film, cropping up mostly in the likes of costume and make-up, though Angela Bassett has real (and deserved) momentum as Best Supporting Actress.

    Like ‘Wakanda Forever’, ‘The Batman’ is mostly found in the technical side of the nominations while both ‘Babylon’ and ‘Empire of Light’ lingered with just a couple of nods. We’re also sorry to see ‘RRR’ miss out on an International nod, though it is in contention for Best Original Song.

    Among the pleasant surprises? The groundswell of support for Andrea Riseborough in ‘To Leslie’ sees her end up on the Best Actress list and an Animated Film category where you’d be happy with pretty much any of the listed entries winning. Also, Sarah Polley’s ‘Women Talking’ certainly deserves to be sharing Best Picture space with the others in that category (and Adapted Screenplay), even if its acting ensemble perhaps deserved better.

    And disappointments? No sign of ‘Till’s Danielle Deadwyler or anything for ‘Decision to Leave’.

    Here is the full list of nominees:

    BEST PICTURE

    Jake Sully, Ronal, and Tonowari in 20th Century Studios' 'Avatar: The Way of Water.'
    (L to R): Jake Sully, Ronal, and Tonowari in 20th Century Studios’ ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’ Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

    ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

    ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’

    ‘Elvis’

    ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

    ‘The Fabelmans’

    ‘TÁR’

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

    ‘Triangle Of Sadness‘

    ‘Women Talking’

    DIRECTING

    Martin McDonagh – ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’

    Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

    Steven Spielberg – ‘The Fabelmans’

    Todd Field – ‘TÁR’

    Ruben Östlund – ‘Triangle of Sadness’

    ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

    Austin Butler – ‘Elvis’

    Colin Farrell – ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’

    Brendan Fraser – ‘The Whale’

    Paul Mescal – ‘Aftersun’

    Bill Nighy – ‘Living’

    ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

    Cate Blanchett – ‘TÁR’

    Ana de Armas – ‘Blonde’

    Andrea Riseborough – ‘To Leslie’

    Michelle Williams – ‘The Fabelmans’

    Michelle Yeoh – ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

    ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

    Brendan Gleeson in the film 'The Banshees of Inisherin.'
    Brendan Gleeson in the film ‘The Banshees of Inisherin.’ Photo by Jonathan Hession. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

    Brendan Gleeson – ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’

    Bryan Tyree Henry – ‘Causeway’

    Judd Hirsch – ‘The Fabelmans’

    Barry Keoghan – ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’

    Ke Huy Quan – ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

    ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

    Angela Bassett – ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

    Hong Chau – ‘The Whale’

    Kerry Condon – ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’

    Jamie Lee Curtis – ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

    Stephanie Hsu – ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

    ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

    ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’

    ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’

    ‘Living’

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

    ‘Women Talking’

    ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

    ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’

    ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

    ‘The Fabelmans’

    ‘TÁR’

    ‘Triangle of Sadness’

    INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

    Felix Kammerer in 'All Quiet on the Western Front.'
    Felix Kammerer in ‘All Quiet on the Western Front.’ Credit: Reiner Bajo.

    ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’

    ‘Argentina, 1985’

    ‘Close’

    ‘EO’

    ‘The Quiet Girl’

    ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

    ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’

    ‘Marcel The Shell with Shoes On’

    ‘Puss In Boots: The Last Wish’

    ‘The Sea Beast’

    ‘Turning Red’

    DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

    ‘All That Breathes’

    ‘All The Beauty and the Bloodshed’

    ‘Fire of Love‘

    ‘A House Made of Splinters’

    ‘Navalny’

    COSTUME DESIGN

    ‘Babylon’

    ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

    ‘Elvis’

    ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’

    ‘Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris’

    SOUND

    Batman fighting the police
    Robert Pattinson as Batman in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure ‘The Batman,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jonathan Olley/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

    ‘The Batman’

    ‘Elvis’

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

    ORIGINAL SCORE

    ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’

    ‘Babylon’

    ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’

    ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

    ‘The Fabelmans’

    ORIGINAL SONG

    ‘Woman Talking’: “Applause” – Diane Warren

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’: “Hold My Hand” – Lady Gaga

    ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’: “Lift Me Up” – Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson

    ‘RRR’: “Naatu Naatu” – M.M. Keeravaani and Chandrabose

    ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once: “This Is A Life” – Son Lux, Mitski, David Byrne

    MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

    ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’

    ‘The Batman’

    ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

    ‘Elvis’

    ‘The Whale’

    PRODUCTION DESIGN

    Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in 'Babylon' from Paramount Pictures.
    Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

    ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

    ‘Babylon’

    ‘Elvis’

    ‘The Fabelmans’

    FILM EDITING

    ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’

    ‘Elvis’

    ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

    ‘TÁR’

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

    CINEMATOGRAPHY

    ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’

    ‘Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths’

    ‘Elvis’

    ‘Empire of Light’

    ‘TÁR’

    VISUAL EFFECTS

    Tom Cruise in Top Gun 2
    Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

    ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

    ‘The Batman’

    ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

    DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

    ‘The Elephant Whisperers’

    ‘Haulout’

    ‘How Do You Measure a Year?’

    ‘The Martha Mitchell Effect’

    ‘Stranger at the Gate’

    LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

    ‘An Irish Goodbye’

    ‘Ivalu’

    ‘Le Pupille’

    ‘Night Ride’

    ‘The Red Suitcase’

    ANIMATED SHORT FILM

    ‘The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse’

    ‘The Flying Sailor’

    ‘Ice Merchants’

    ‘My Year of Dicks’

    ‘An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It’

    The 95th Oscars are set to air live, March 12th, on ABC.

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