Dream Log

M3GAN 2.0

2025 | Dir. Gerard Johnstone | 120 Minutes

3 out of 5

Wholesale swapping out horror for action, this homicidal robot sequel is far less engaging than its predecessor despite featuring more rampaging android brutality. The self-aware humor is amusing, but the plot twists are incredibly tedious and the human story suffers without a strong emotional core. At best, it's mindless violent fun between scenes of plodding exposition, but it's a mediocre picture that a big swing and miss on its potential overall.

28 YEARS LATER

2025 | Dir. Danny Boyle | 116 Minutes

4 out of 5

Less a direct sequel to the previous films in the series and more the fascinating start of a new saga centered on preserving humanity against infectious rage run amok, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland present a trippy and thrilling post-apocalyptic coming of age story while also delivering a moving meditation on mortality. The horror action is quite inventive and incredibly suspenseful as the ultra stylish picture mutates the nasty virus first established in 28 Days Later in intriguing ways (though that one and 28 Weeks Later are not at all required viewing before jumping into this movie). Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, and Ralph Fiennes are respectively very good, and Edvin Ryding is incredibly funny, but the very best performance of the feature belongs to young actor Alfie Williams in the lead role. Docking a point only because the final scene, while very entertaining, feels more like the beginning of the next chapter rather than a natural part of this one. 

MATERIALISTS

2025 | Dir. Celine Song | 117 Minutes

3 out of 5

A rather clinical deconstruction of rom-com conventions that's light on comedy and heavy on realistic drama. While it thoughtfully parses out the difference between relationships built upon transactional pragmatism and those developed through unquantifiable romantic connection, the dialogue is a bit clunky at points, and the plot could have used a bit more flourish, but leads Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans keep things engaging. Celine Song's sense of pace and ability to deliver emotional resonance are impressive in any case.

THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME

2025 | Dir. Wes Anderson | 102 Minutes

4 out of 5

As aesthetically pleasing and humorously dry as Wes Anderson films come, though this one leans far more into the auteur's brand of madcap comedy and, to the picture's disservice, less into the concentrated heartfelt human drama that give his best movies that extra something. Benicio del Toro is an excellent fit as a morally bankrupt businessman in the midst of an existential crisis, and Michael Cera hilariously brings his awkward energy to the role of an unassuming entomologist harboring a crush and a secret, but a grumpy cat-like Mia Threapleton steals the show as a no-nonsense nun reluctantly accompanying her estranged father on an unpredictable adventure.

THE LIFE OF CHUCK

2025 | Dir. Mike Flanagan | 110 Minutes

4 out of 5

Deeply earnest and affecting, Mike Flanagan adapts Stephen King at perhaps his most wistful into a thoughtful and engaging but somewhat meandering film meditating on mortality and the simple joys of human existence, however long it may last for each one of us. The ensemble cast featuring numerous Mike Flanagan regulars is a real pleasure to watch. Also, King's third-person omniscient narration sounds straight-up awesome when performed by Nick Offerman, that's just fact.

Elio

ELIO
2025 | Dir. Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina | 99 Minutes

"'Unique' can sometimes feel like 'alone,' but you are not alone."

Losing his parents at a young age, Elio lives with his Air Force major aunt but he struggles to connect with her and with other people, his only wish is to be abducted by space aliens. Against all odds, Elio makes contact with extraterrestrial life but is mistaken for the leader of planet Earth, receiving an invitation to join an intergalactic assembly of peaceful lifeforms. As a condition of his membership, Elio takes on a mission to negotiate with a merciless warlord but in the process becomes best friends with the despot's gentle son.

Elio is a gorgeously animated and emotionally stirring picture with an amusing sci-fi premise layered on top of a story centered on a child struggling with loneliness and feeling unwanted. While the picture immediately establishes Elio's challenging relationship with his aunt and his inability to make friends with other children, interpersonal conflicts that are all too relatable, once the story leaves Earth the emotional hook never goes beyond only just serviceable, somewhat underdeveloped in favor of delivering a fun though rather rote mistaken identity plot. Fortunately, the friendship between Elio and his alien slug friend Glordon is convincingly earnest and sweet, and the third act features some thrilling high-flying action and touching payoffs for the character arcs of Elio, his Aunt Olga, and Glordon, considerably improving the quality of the film as a whole.

Pixar Animation Studios shows off their technical prowess in Elio by way of some impressively dynamic lighting effects featured throughout the entire film, starting with little Elio's exploration of a darkened museum outer space exhibit still under construction at the start of the picture and carrying through the various colorful settings of the Communiverse. The designs for the extraterrestrial lifeforms are incredibly varied and every single one is lots of fun. The ethereal film score by Rob Simonsen is all around excellent.

Yonas Kibreab carries the film with a natural performance in the lead role, consistently hilarious and often incredibly affecting to movingly convey Elio's sadness. Remy Edgerly is infectiously cheerful as the happy-go-lucky Glordon, sharing fantastic comedic chemistry with Yonas Kibreab's Elio.  As the put-upon Aunt Olga, a rather manic Zoe Saldaña is very funny. Brad Garrett hams it up well as Glordon's ill-tempered warlord father.

Elio features the Pixar signature blend of heart and visual splendor that is sure to please children, adults, and inner children alike. However, while the story of a boy having a hard time finding his place in the universe is touching, it's nothing groundbreaking particularly by the storied animation studio's astronomical standards. In any case, as an average Pixar film that's finely crafted by any standard, it's a worthwhile uplifting experience that effortlessly tugs at heartstrings with plenty of humor and awe-inspiring imagery.


MID-CREDITS STINGER
Elio and Bryce chat with Glordon by ham radio.


FRAGMENTS
- Less a post-credits stinger than a promo, a brief teaser for the next Pixar film Hoopers plays after the closing studio logos

- Intriguingly, the original teaser trailer for Elio shows a few significant differences in character roles and premise from the final film -- America Ferrera plays Olga in the teaser instead of Zoe Saldaña who was originally written to be Elio's mother

MCU CONNECTIONS

- Zoe Saldaña (Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

Thunderbolts*

THUNDERBOLTS*

2025 | Dir. Jake Schreier | 127 Minutes

"I can't think of a worse group of people trying to work together."

On the verge of ending her employment under the ruthless politician Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, former Black Widow Yelena Belova accepts one last mission. The assignment leads Yelena into a trap set by Val intended to liquidate all of her covert operatives in a ploy to destroy all evidence of her nefarious activities. The survivors of Val's scheme reluctantly band together to confront her only to come face to face with an unimaginably powerful new threat.

Primarily serving as a culmination of storylines established in Black Widow and on The Falcon and Winter Soldier, Thunderbolts* does what good Marvel Studios films do best: deliver interesting action-packed (and if we're lucky, thought-provoking) spectacle while doing right by their characters by continuing their story arcs in emotionally gratifying ways. Thanks to a frequently sincere screenplay by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, the collection of prickly hired guns at the heart of the picture come across as the biggest underdogs within their cinematic multiverse as they gradually become worthy of taking on the mantle of Earth's Mightiest Heroes in spirit if not in ability. It's rewarding to see the late Black Widow's endearingly dorky but seriously deadly kid sister stepping up to take on a leadership role, consistently offering empathy to the deeply troubled Bob as she learns to face her own demons after years of burying her pain in booze and wanton violence. Taking a massive creative swing for a superhero movie - arguably one that significantly pays off - it's only fitting that the finale is a psychological struggle rather than the standard massive battle.

Thunderbolts* features several inspired action sequences, made all the more entertaining by the prickly nature of Yelena, Ava, and Walker. The lethal meet-cute in the secret facility sports some excitingly dynamic fight choreography. The car chase in the desert is tense and genuinely funny with Bucky making an awesome dramatic entrance to top it off. Watching the team futilely attempt to subdue the super-powered Sentry is simply heartbreaking, though they more than redeem themselves demonstrating true heroism protecting the people of Manhattan from the devastation of the Void. The way the film depicts the Void as an emotional state, an entity, and a shadowy realm that traps individuals in the worst moments of their lives is clever if under-explained, but it works reasonably well as a storytelling device.

Reprising the role of Yelena, Florence Pugh absolutely carries this picture with a thoroughly engaging performance, bringing thrilling stunts, laughs, and heartache with aplomb. David Harbour lays on thick the Russian accent and broad comedy in his return as Yelena's super soldier surrogate dad Alexei, but he impressively dials back the silliness to really sell several poignant moments with Yelena. Making her second appearance as Ava Starr following 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hannah John-Kamen is captivating as a hyper-competent foil to Pugh's Yelena, though it would have been nice for her to have more screen time. Wyatt Russell's off-brand Captain America John Walker makes his silver screen debut bringing along all of the character's baggage from The Falcon and Winter Soldier, the rough-around-the-edges charisma inherited from his father Kurt serving him well, adding a considerable amount of likability to such an incredibly flawed character. As the most veteran superhero of the gang, Sebastian Stan's Bucky is excellent as the no-nonsense counterbalance to this group of dummies. Lewis Pullman is perfectly cast as the soft-spoken and unassuming Robert Reynolds, making his performance as the sinister Void even more terrifying. Playing a much bigger part than in her previous MCU appearances as smug master manipulator Val, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a lot of fun to watch, and certain plot developments allow her to show off her range as a performer. In addition, Geraldine Viswanathan is incredibly amusing Val's conflicted assistant Mel.

Thunderbolts* is as much about the formation of a world-saving team comprised of sad misfits as it is about the challenges of processing shame and past trauma. An all-around solid cast lead by Florence Pugh and some fascinating creative choices make it one of the more unique MCU films. Though considerably gruffer than the more well-established heroes of the Marvel canon, this picture makes a strong argument to root for this group of reprobates.

MID-CREDITS STINGER

Seeing his team featured on boxes of Wheaties at the supermarket, Alexei fails to convince a shopper to buy a box.

POST-CREDITS STINGER

While Alexei proposes an unappealing solution to the gang's legal battle with Sam Wilson over the name of their team, the crew witnesses an extra-dimensional ship with the number "4" on its hull approach Earth.

FRAGMENTS

- This variant of the Marvel Studios logo as it and the fanfare are swallowed by the Void is a neat touch

- Cool redesign for Taskmaster, but Olga Kurylenko's Antonia Dreykov really gets the short shrift

- Very amusing to see Bunk and Frank Sobotka from The Wire (Wendell Edward Pierce and Chris Bauer) in an MCU film

- The oddest creative choice of the script to me is for the characters to associate the "Thunderbolts" team name to Yelena's childhood soccer team instead of regular MCU antagonist Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross as it is in the comics, but the ultimate reveal that the asterisk in the Thunderbolts* title is in reference to the team's official branding as the New Avengers is simply masterful

- I very much love how the opening notes to Son Lux's theme music for Thunderbolts* mirror the opening notes of Alan Silvestri's iconic theme music for The Avengers

SUPPLEMENTAL STUFF

Video: Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* | Red Guardian Limo Service

007 CONNECTIONS

- David Harbour (Gregg Beam in Quantum of Solace)

- Olga Kurylenko (Camille Montes in Quantum of Solace)

Wicked

WICKED

2024 | Dir. Jon M. Chu | 162 Minutes

"Everyone deserves the chance to fly."

In the Land of Oz, by chance the outcast Elphaba Thropp finds herself enrolled in Shiz University. Following their contentious first meeting, vain popular girl Galinda Upland gains a measure of compassion and gradually befriends Elphaba. When destiny calls, Elphaba learns hard truths about her world and must decide between fulfilling the expectations of others or doing what she believes is right.

Adapted from the first act of Stephen Schwartz's celebrated Broadway production, which in turn is based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel reinterpreting L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, director Jon M. Chu delivers a visually dazzling showcase of song and dance with spectacular choreography and fun set pieces. Primarily serving as a revisionist origin story for a classic villain, Wicked is at its best when it focuses on its core relationship, the unlikely but genuine friendship between misunderstood Elphaba, who learns to embrace her agency, and the conceited Galinda, who learns humility and empathy. The narrative also has much to say regarding prejudice, discrimination, and disinformation, with a considerable amount of focus on the mistreatment of not just Elphaba but also the intelligent animal inhabitants of Oz. However, the pacing of the film suffers from an overabundance of exposition and lore to unpack. While the picture concludes on a triumphant high, with so many plot threads left unresolved it isn't quite satisfying as stand-alone feature when all is sung and done.

The songs by Stephen Schwartz are all-around phenomenal, many of which are immediately unforgettable, and they are performed by an immensely talented cast with superb cinematic direction for this film adaptation. The "Dancing Through Life" sequence is the perfect example of the picture's incredible scale, taking place in a massive dynamic magical library set populated with excellent dancers. On a smaller, more personal scale, the "Popular" number is a great spotlight for the picture's leading ladies, perfectly matching the clever and funny energy of the catchy song. The epic sequence capping off the film featuring the exceptionally memorable "Defying Gravity" is truly exhilarating, a fittingly moving and inspirational showstopper accentuated with impressive visual effects.

Cynthia Erivo is magnificent as Elphaba, a role that fully utilizes her incredible voice, but even more impressively, allows her to demonstrate her screen acting talent as she capably carries the emotional weight of Elphaba's story. Frequently hilarious and believably earnest, Ariana Grande embodies Galinda to perfection. Playing the part of Fiyero, Jonathan Bailey is suitably charming and convincingly magnetic. The supporting cast also features an Michelle Yeoh exuding an air of authority as the deceptively regal Shiz University headmistress Madame Morrible, and Jeff Goldblum more or less just being Jeff Goldblum in the role of the master con artist Oz.

A crowd-pleasing ride overall, Wicked is an entertaining and emotionally engaging movie musical featuring iconic visuals and memorable songs. Elevated by a universally appealing tale of self-discovery at its heart, the narrative also offers a timely and timeless cautionary look at the evils of scapegoating and propaganda. Unfortunately, the film falls short of perfection in no small part due to its extended runtime bloated with expository material that does not pay off in this first installment of an ambitious duology.

FRAGMENTS

- The ad campaign for the film strategically neglects to mention it is the first installment of a two-picture adaptation, though the actual title card featured in the opening reads: Wicked ~Part 1~

- Peter Dinklage playing Dr. Dillamond further demonstrates his frequent typecasting as persecuted intellectuals

- The way John Powell's score builds as Elphaba takes flight during the finale reminds me so much of Hans Zimmer's theme for Superman from Man of Steel

007 CONNECTIONS

- Michelle Yeoh (Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies)

MCU CONNECTIONS

- Jeff Goldblum (Grandmaster in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Thor: Ragnarok)

- Michelle Yeoh (Aleta Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Jiang Nan in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)

- Peter Dinklage (Eitri in Avengers: Infinity War)

The Substance

THE SUBSTANCE

2024 | Dir. Coralie Fargeat | 141 Minutes

"Remember you are one."

Unceremoniously let go by the producer of her television show, aging celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle uses a mysterious drug to create a younger version of herself to begin her career anew. However, the youthful copy callously saps away at Elisabeth at an alarming rate.

Writer/director Coralie Fargeat's The Substance is an instant horror classic. The film is a stylish, surreal, provocative, and intensely furious satire unfolding in an aggressively heightened world taking one woman's feelings of inadequacy, in large part imparted upon her by unrealistic societal beauty standards, to birth a superficially enticing self-destructive monster. When one considers the very last instruction card enclosed within the package of the titular substance printed in bold capitalized letters, a reminder to the user that they and their counterpart "are one," the most direct reading of the increasingly antagonistic push-and-pull relationship between Elisabeth and Sue is Elisabeth expressing the hate she has for herself, an internal conflict that's externalized and transmuted into a visceral interpersonal struggle. Sue stealing time away from Elisabeth is in reality Elisabeth refusing to accept the current natural state of her aging body and a life away from the spotlight. It's telling that despite her reactive desperation to put an end to Sue when her body deteriorates to an unrecognizable state, Elisabeth is ultimately unable to let go of the Sue aspect of herself.

The hilariously sharp dialogue and frantically rapid pace of The Substance, along with outlandish creature effects of its final act, take the already excellent dramatic conflict over-the-top. On a technical level, the picture is absolutely phenomenal. The masterful editing by Fargeat, Jérôme Eltabet, Valentin Feron combined with the pulsating electronic score by Raffertie create a tense and breathless audio visual experience with propulsive energy. The practical make-up effects by Pop FX are brilliantly inventive, culminating in the bloody finale with one of the most convincingly rendered fascinatingly disgusting movie monsters in cinema history.

Stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are nothing short of perfect, particularly impressive as the narrative spirals into absolute chaotic and revolting weirdness. Alone without a single word of spoken dialogue in some scenes, Moore gives an exceptionally natural performance portraying a fading star refusing to give up her fame at any cost, remaining consistently engaging even as heavier and heavier prosthetics are applied to her as Elisabeth's body rapidly degenerates. Qualley also gives it her all in the physically demanding role of Sue, totally captivating whether she's mugging for the cameras or literally fighting for her borrowed life. Dennis Quaid is horrifyingly convincing as the blustering slimy television producer all-too-aptly named Harvey.

Incredibly daring and delightfully grotesque, The Substance is a cautionary tale body horror film with unforgettable inventively disgusting imagery. The picture stylishly and mercilessly confronts and subverts the absurdly high value society places on youth and surface-level beauty. Most provocatively, the most terrifying aspect of this feature is arguably its depiction of one woman's self-loathing mutating into full-blown self-destruction.

FRAGMENTS

- The brief introductory sequence elegantly showing without verbal explanation how the titular substance works on an egg is pure genius, as are the bookend sequences of Elisabeth's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

- The moment the "Monstro Elisasue" title card appears is one of my favorite cinematic experiences of 2024