@lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social praises the darkly humorous Kontinental ’25 as another strong example of writer-director Radu Jude's commitment to depicting the modern world as Hell while still imbuing the feature with empathy.

LEE CRONIN'S THE MUMMY sometimes plays more like a gross-out dark comedy than a typical Mummy film, explains @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social. Sadly, it too often embraces familiarity and lore obsession over those creative choices.

While @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social indentifies charms in NORMAL, particularly Bob Odenkirk's performance, but ultimately finds the film too complicated and talky for its own good.

While @ungajje.bsky.social has reservations about how the plot treats its initial victim, he can't deny CRIMINAL RECORD Season 2 is a compelling sophomore effort.

The advertising campaign did THE MINIATURE WIFE wrong as the series turns out to be an excellent surprise, says @ungajje.bsky.social.

Taylor Ortega is excellent in BIG MISTAKES but the show itself is ill-formed, argues @ungajje.bsky.social about the newly released Netflix series.

Not every choice works in HAMLET starring Riz Ahmed, but what does work makes the film worth watching, asserts @sgorr.bsky.social . buff.ly/UOT9h0h

With SHRINKING Season 3 officially ending today, revisit @ungajje.bsky.social 's review of the full season.

@ungajje.bsky.social praises YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS Season 2 as an improvement over its debut with a clearer thesis on wealth and the wealthy and an eye towards all of our inevitable deaths. But still funny.

MIKE & NICK & NICK & ALICE isn't nearly as over the top as its premise suggests, but it is still plenty of fun, asserts @ungajje.bsky.social.

Despite not reaching the heights of TITANE, @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social finds plenty compelling about Julia Ducournau's latest, APEX. Read her review now.

THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE is an Easter egg-filled improvement over its predecessor...but just barely, says @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social. buff.ly/F2toWva

SOMETHING VERY BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN starts with all atmosphere before the plot takes over halfway through the season. Despite quality production design, @ungajje.bksy.social thinks the whole thing would've been better served by just being a film. buff.ly/qNcrEjg

@lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social praises the contrasts in the new horror-comedy FORBIDDEN FRUITS, loving its mix of dark humor and toxic witchy melodrama.

New release OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR, has split The Spool staffers.

With the newest episode of IMPERFECT WOMEN hitting streaming today, look back at @ungajje.bsky.social 's review of the whole series from last week. Find out why he argues the show is doomed by its insistence on trying to be two kinds of television at the same time.

@ungajje.bsky.social struggles to reconcile THE MADISON's two halves. One is a deeply empathetic and insightful look at grief. The other, an ugly, reductive take on cities and the people that have the nerve to live in them. The series airs in final three episodes Saturday.

Ryan Gosling has charm to spare in the energetic and entertaining PROJECT HAIL MARY, says @ungajje.bsky.social.

undertone tries to do for sound what so many good found footage films have done for the visual. Unfortunately, predictability and underwhelming scares diminish its craft, argues @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social . buff.ly/t7aXU4U

@lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social is here for all your Oscars needs. Who will win? Who should win? How do you dance like an Irish vampire? Well, maybe not the last one. But maaaaybe.

SCARPETTA's scenes set in the past are excellent, says @ungajje.bsky.social . By contrast, the scenes in the present are frequently loud, chaotic, and overstay their welcome.

WAR MACHINE is a solid action sci-fi film elevated by practical effects and a strong direction by Patrick Hughes, says @ungajje.bsky.social . It sadly makes little room for personality, though.

ROOSTER doesn't yet seem to have figured out what show it is going to be, notes @ungajje.bsky.social . He's not sure how long it can afford not knowing.

VLADIMIR gets plenty right about the motivating qualities and limitations of desire, but fumbles when it tries to make hot takes on issues of power, consent, and more, says @ungajje.bsky.social

Andrew Stanton's possible live-action comeback IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE is a disappointment on almost every level, reports @ungajje.bsky.social in his review.

DTF St. Louis is a slow-motion suburban noir that suffocates and beguiles the audience, says @ungajje.bsky.social thespool.net/reviews/tv-r...

@ungajje.bsky.social admits THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME had no need for a second season, but its new go-round is nonetheless superior to the first, thanks in no small measure to Jennifer Garner getting to fight.

PARADISE is back! It isn't quite as strange Season 1, reveals @UnGajje.bsky.social, but it makes up for it with an overall deeper grasp of the characters' emotions.

PILLION is one of 2026's first must-watch films, argues @sgorr.bsky.social. Check out why in her review:

SCHOOL SPIRITS Season 3 returns this week and @UnGajje.bsky.social praises its ability to navigate new characters and plotlines without losing track of the main cast or overcomplicating the show's charms.

THE BEAUTY is a return to form for Ryan Murphy, but one needs to keep in mind all the good and bad that can mean, argues @UnGajje.bsky.social.

Great acting can't save HIS & HERS from an ending that spikes all the interesting moral questions the series wrestles with until that point, argues @UnGajje.bsky.social.

ICYMI, we had a split decision over at The Spool on #PRIMATE, the new ape-antics film now in theatres.

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION leaves @UnGajje.bsky.social feeling like he'd prefer a staycation.

While not without its problems, MAGELLAN successfully captures the scale of the explorer's life without elevating the man to a legend, says @sgorr.bsky.social.

While the internet is obsessing over secret episodes, @UnGajje.bsky.social keeps his eye fixed on the #StrangerThings finale (so far), pointing out its visual shortcomings and emotional triumphs.

On the eve of #StrangerThings finale, check out @UnGajje.bsky.social's take on its Christmas Day penultimate set of episodes, a trifecta of installments that spun the show's wheels but nailed its emotional beats.

COUNTING CROWS: HAVE YOU SEEN ME LATELY? is a music doc made with skill, but @UnGajje.bsky.social can only mildly recommend it as it never finds the sweet spot where diehards and newbies can enjoy it in equal measure.

@lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social sees DUST BUNNY as a unique gift to the next generation of film nerds, courtesy of two of the geniuses behind HANNIBAL.

Amanda Seyfried's all-in performance isn't enough to make all-too-predictable THE HOUSEMAID worth hiring, concludes @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social.

@sgorr.bsyk.social knows the premise of THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB sounds daunting. She urges everyone to see it anyway.

@UnGajje.bsky.social doesn't think LITTLE DISASTERS is a big enough deal to earn the title "disaster," but he wants to be very clear that he thinks it is bad.

WAKE UP DEAD MAN, the latest #KnivesOut film, hits Netflix today. Look back at @UnGajje.bsky.social's review during its theatrical run to encourage you to schedule your weekend around seeing it.

#Hamnet opens wide today. Check out @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social's emotionally rich response to the film on The Spool now.

@UnGajje.bsky.social wrestles with JAY KELLY before ultimately concluding that its ambiguity is an advantage.

After last night's Tonight Show special on #StrangerThings, why not revisit @ungajje.bsky.social's review of Season 5's first part. thespool.net/reviews/tv-r...

Rian Johnson breaks with his #KnivesOut formula some in #WakeUpDeadMan, delivering a film that balances its humor and twisty mystery with an earnest evaluation of faith and religion, says @ungajje.bsky.social. thespool.net/reviews/film...

Looking for a film to keep the entire family happy this post-Thanksgiving weekend? @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social says you can do worse than WICKED: FOR GOOD. Of course, you can also do better, namely with the franchise's first installment.

@sgorr declares Park Chan-wook's latest, NO OTHER CHOICE, a gift and one of the year's best. (See link in bio)

@UnGajje.bsky.social praises A MAN ON THE INSIDE Season 2 for empathetically embracing another group too quickly shoved aside as being "outdated": liberal arts institutions. Not to get too punny, but there's no Sophomore slump here.