There was a moment in THE LONG WALK where I thought, “Philip Seymour Hoffman would be SO PROUD of Cooper’s performance,” and then a moment later that absolutely broke me because of that thought. He and David Jonsson are the best onscreen duo of the year. Absolutely incredible.

Chloe Zhao’s brutal, intimate masterpiece HAMMET cracked me wide open. A gorgeous tribute to the art that comes out of grief and how it can heal us. Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal’s emotionally raw performances rank with the best ever. That finale. ALL the tears. #TIFF50

I had a lot of fun with EXIT 8! Gets a bit ridiculous with the “why are you not turning around and running from the VERY OBVIOUS anomaly right in front of you” bits, but it’s clever, well-crafted, and a smart adaptation of the game. Kazunari Ninomiya is an endearing lead. #TIFF50

Anders Thomas Jensen is fast becoming a new favorite. THE LAST VIKING is full of his signature off-the-wall humor from its cast of eccentrics, and it’s a genuinely emotional family drama to boot! Didn’t know how much I needed Mads Mikkelsen singing “Chiquitita”. #TIFF50

Edward Berger directs the ever-loving hell out of BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER, a basic gambling flick elevated by a blast of lurid style and a sweatily committed Colin Farrell. Interesting spin on the eat-the-rich narrative, in which eating the rich just makes you sick. #TIFF50

Guillermo Del Toro’s gothically grand FRANKENSTEIN is as much of a visual feast as all his films. Isaac’s mad genius is a hoot but Elordi’s physicality as the (too?) sensitive creature is a revelation. GDT’s love for his creatures gets the better of him? #TIFF50

The Professional meets Imaginary in Bryan Fuller’s DUST BUNNY. His signature blend of whimsy and macabre transfers seamlessly to the big screen, with delightfully florid camerawork and music. The CGI doesn’t always convince, but the premise and execution are so fun! #TIFF50

Tessa Thompson makes for a feisty, dynamic HEDDA in Nia DaCosta’s handsomely designed Ibsen adaptation. The change of setting and sexuality works wonderfully well, but changes to the last act leave the ending less impactful than the play. #TIFF50

Derek Cianfrance’s ROOFMAN is a perfectly entertaining mainstream crowdpleaser. This is Channing Tatum’s best role in years and he delivers his best performance as a man fighting for his better nature but desperate for connection. Dunst, as always, is sublime. #TIFF50

Just got flattened by Hikari’s RENTAL FAMILY. It wears its heart on its sleeve and is so generically heartwarming that I suspect a lot of people will not care for it, but I found its sense of empathy irresistible, and Brendan Fraser is the perfect vessel for it. #TIFF50

PRAISE BE! WAKE UP DEAD MAN sees Rian Johnson put a stake thru the heart of those who approach religion from a place of hate rather than love. Another flawlessly cast, cleverly written, socially relevant, supremely entertaining mystery from the new master of the genre. #TIFF50

Kyle Gallner and Samara Weaving have combustible chemistry in CAROLINA CAROLINE, a tremendously entertaining Bonnie & Clyde update that hit the gas early on and never lets up. As a bonus, the questions of destiny and self-determination feel incredibly relevant. #TIFF50

Byun Sung-hyun’s super-entertaining ‘70s airport thriller GOOD NEWS is incredibly exciting for its first half before becoming a bit exhausting in its second. The political satire is hilarious, but the plot machinations get so complex that it can be hard to keep up. #TIFF50

Sydney Sweeney shines in CHRISTY, bobbing and weaving her way through a generic boxing flick that shines most when it lets her dig deep into the character. Pulls no punches about its subject’s not-so-savory side, and the emotion hits hard, but it’s prestige filmmaking at its blandest. #TIFF50

The dialogue-free element of MOTOR CITY never rises above the level of a gimmick and the soundtrack choices may be obvious, but the action is incredibly badass. An artsy exploitation flick in search of a Grindhouse-style double feature. Alan Ritchson is a fucking beast. #TIFF50

I can’t believe NIRVANA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE exists. A genuine how-the-fuck-did-they-pull-this-off masterpiece of wacky comic hijinks with two best friends. I don’t think any Midnight Madness film will ever top this. #TIFF50

John Early’s MADDIE’S SECRET had me in stitches - a dead-on parody of Lifetime-esque after school special movies with genuine dramatic heft courtesy of Early’s fabulous gender-bending performance, which is so much more than a piece of stunt casting. #TIFF50

Aneil Karia’s bold, brutal modern-dress HAMLET makes some brilliant staging choices, most of which work, but Riz Ahmed’s livewire performance as a man so wracked by grief that he drags everyone around down with him is on another level. Great ensemble and score. #TIFF50

Happy Fireworks Day, all!

I’m not ready to really talk about SENTIMENTAL VALUE in depth because it’s a touch too personal, but it is Trier’s best film, Reinsve’s best performance, and Skarsgard’s crowning achievement. An intimate metacinematic epic that goes places I was not expecting. #Cannes2025

THE HISTORY OF SOUND tests the limits of stereotypically British restraint as it works through its story of love and folk music. Josh O’Connor and Paul Mescal build a palpably deep connection but the clichéd second half is so restrained it loses its pulse. Handsome but uninspired. #Cannes2025

Scarlett Johansson’s feature debut ELEANOR THE GREAT is a conventional but sensitive portrayal of the many ways grief freezes us in place. June Squibb is at her hilarious and heartbreaking best as a woman whose grief-based white lie has unintended ripple effects. #Cannes2025

Julia Ducournau throws enough ideas for a hundred movies at ALPHA to try to make something stick, but it’s too much for anything to cohere. The emotional strength of the performances keeps it watchable, but this is a raw as fuck mess of titanic proportions. #Cannes2025

EAGLES OF THE REPUBLIC is my first Competition dud at #Cannes2025 - not funny enough to be a great comedy, too surface-level to be a great drama, and not exciting enough to be a great thriller… until everything snaps into place for a killer final sequence. Too little, too late.

Kleber Mendonça Filho’s THE SECRET AGENT took a while for me to get into but once I did, I was so taken by its playful blend of historical drama, spy thriller, and metacinematic research project. Wagner Moura is genuinely great across multiple time periods. #Cannes2025

Chie Hayakawa’s achingly tender yet resolutely unmanipulative coming of age drama RENOIR had me on the verge of tears for its entire second half, and pushed me over in the most gentle, unexpected way. Lead Yui Suzuki gives a performance beyond her years. #Cannes2025

Hafzia Herzi’s LA PETITE DERNIÈRE (The Little Sister) is a generic gay story elevated by Nadia Melliti’s heartbreaking performance. Charming, but slight in its examination of a young Muslim woman’s coming of sexual age. #Cannes2025

The bulk of Sebastian Lelio’s THE WAVE is the most audacious thing I’ve seen at #Cannes2025 - an extended increasingly surrealistic musical sequence set during the Chilean university protests that examines every nuance of the fight the students undertook. Daniela López is a charisma bomb lead.

Ari Aster’s COVID-era satire EDDINGTON is his most straightforward film to date, a sniper-accurate vision of America at its most broken. People are gonna have a LOT of feelings about how on-the-nose it is, but it lands a high percentage of its hits. #Cannes2025

The puberty allegory of THE PLAGUE may be a little obvious, but first-time director Charlie Polinger directs it brilliantly, capturing pre-adolescent anxiety with the sharpness of a butcher knife. Captures the cruelty of pre-teen boys with haunting accuracy. #Cannes2025

Absolutely gobsmacked by AMRUM, Fatih Akin’s stunning examination of what the end of fascism looks like for true believers and the children who don’t know any better. Beautifully photographed and deeply felt, with a tremendous child performance at its center. #Cannes2025

Dominik Moll’s CASE 137 is fired the fuck up about the state of policing in France. An infuriating, slickly entertaining procedural thriller with a dynamite Léa Drucker as a police inspector caught between a victim needing justice and a system designed to not give it. #Cannes2025

THE MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO tells a touching child’s eye view story of the AIDS epidemic. Found families are the oldest trope in gay stories but this one has a delicate touch that recontextualizes a lot of familiar story beats into something very special. #Cannes2025

No franchise has better action than MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. THE FINAL RECKONING has two of the franchise’s most ridiculous, and therefore best, action sequences. It also indulges in all the franchise’s worst tendencies, but as a final(?) entry, it satisfies. #Cannes2025

Mascha Schilinski takes the coming of age film to stunning new heights in SOUND OF FALLING. An intimate epic of female becoming across decades of families in one house, littered with striking, gorgeously lit images. Sofia Coppola, eat your heart out. nextbestpicture.com/sound-of-fal... #Cannes2025

Becoming a man is rough, and young ENZO is learning that the hard way. Robin Campillo sensitively directs Laurent Cantet’s coming of age film, a more pragmatic Call Me By Your Name that acknowledges that young love can have a lasting impact even if it isn’t reciprocated. #Cannes

First screening of the first full day of Cannes - Laurent Cantet & Robin Campillo’s ENZO, in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar section.

Pop music is a universal language and Amélie Bonnin’s musical LEAVE ONE DAY understands that beautifully, having the characters sing when they don’t know how to express themselves. Loved the easygoing chemistry between the lovely Juliette Armanet and charismatic Basiten Bouillon. A low-key charmer.

Badged up and ready to start Cannes 2025 with the premiere of the new documentary ZELENSKY

CANNES I AM IN YOU!

WARFARE is finally in theaters and it’s a far cry from the jingoistic propaganda piece you might expect. Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza and director Alex Garland have created one of the most hellish “war is hell” films ever made. Check my review: awardswatch.com/warfare-revi...

THE ASSESSMENT, one of the more fascinating films I saw at this past TIFF, is now in theaters! I got to interview stars Elizabeth Olsen and Alicia Vikander about their personal connection to the story and how relevant it is to the current moment: nextbestpicture.com/the-next-bes...

Please listen in to this week's #NBPpodcast as I join @nextbestpicture.bsky.social, @dancindan.bsky.social, @codymonster91.bsky.social & @mavericksmovies.bsky.social to discuss the return of Conan as Oscar host (yippee), a ceremony date even later than this year (ugh), the polls and YOUR questions!

This is one of those Oscar dresses that makes us immediately feel bad that the wearer isn't going to win tonight because this frock deserves to go down in history

How could a toy monkey do anything to hurt people? On this week's #NBPpodcast, let us count the many gory ways. Please listen in as I join @nextbestpicture.bsky.social, Sara Clements, Josh Parham & @dancindan.bsky.social as we take on THE MONKEY, Osgood Perkins' outrageous horror comedy. #TheMonkey

It’s that time of year again, so here’s my Top Ten of 2024 (with shoutouts to a LOT of honorable mentions - I don’t care what anybody says, this was a GREAT year for film!). What were your favorites this year? nextbestpicture.com/nbp-top-10-b...

THE NEXT BEST PICTURE PODCAST - A Behind The Scenes Look At #Nosferatu By @dancindan.bsky.social & Giovanni Lago #NBPpodcast #StreamEvergreen #RobertEggers #Oscars #FYC #AwardsSeason #Cinematography #Makeup #Costumes #ProductionDesign #FilmSky nextbestpicture.com/the-next-bes...

THE NEXT BEST PICTURE PODCAST - #BetterMan w/ @emasasic.bsky.social @codymonster91.bsky.social @dancindan.bsky.social @mavericksmovies.bsky.social @thomaseobrien.bsky.social #NBPpodcast #RobbieWilliams #JonnoDavies #MichaelGracey #PodcastAndChill #FilmSky nextbestpicture.com/the-next-bes...

Thinking about the SAG nominations and I think these are just SAG being SAG and won’t translate to Oscar: Pamela Anderson Jonathan Bailey Monica Barbaro Jamie Lee Curtis Jeremy Strong With Anderson and Strong probably the likeliest to get Oscar noms.

Jan 7th 2025 - According to the official #Prometheus website, the android David will be manufactured TODAY! 📽️📅 Prometheus (2012)