Anora

ANORA
2024 | Dir. Sean Baker | 139 Minutes

"You do not love him, and he doesn't love you. You understand? That's in your head."


Anora "Ani" Mikheeva, a stripper from Brooklyn, meets Ivan Zakharov, the son of a Russian oligarch. After taking Ivan on as a regular client, attracted to Ivan's carefree nature and freewheeling lifestyle, Ani spontaneously agrees to marry him. Their nuptials set in motion a series of unpredictable events with emotionally cataclysmic results for Ani.

A pointed subversion of improbable Hollywood love stories, writer/director Sean Baker's Anora is as amusing as it is heartbreaking. The film is a highly entertaining tale of raw passion and devastating loss with an incredibly funny layer of cynicism masking heartfelt sincerity. Consistently hilarious in its frank, almost mechanical depiction of sex work, the outrageous wealth and fickle whims of Russian oligarchs, and the limited competence of three grown men attempting to wrangle one desperately determined young woman, the picture also poignantly explores the hidden overwhelming vulnerability of its protagonist under layer upon layer of antagonistic snark and anger.

Liberal glimpses of nudity, sex, and illicit substances aside, the first act of Anora plays out like a dreamy fantasy as Ani gradually falls for Ivan, an attachment that gives her a taste of decadent luxury and ostensibly allows her to leave behind an unfulfilling job and bothersome roommate. The moment Ivan flees his handlers, all hell breaks loose and the film descends into incessant shouting and random acts of violence Ani inflicts upon those determined to track Ivan down in the employ of his enraged parents. To Baker's credit as writer and director, the narrative remains thoroughly engaging through the pandemonium as he makes it incredibly easy to empathize with Ani while she gradually realizes her relationship with Ivan evidently does not align with her expectations. By the time the audience reaches the final heart-rending scene in a kindly hired goon's grandmother's car, the cathartic release is fully earned.

Mikey Madison is absolutely fantastic in the titular role, naturally exhibiting sly wit, gritty toughness, and deep heartache all through a thick but convincing New York accent. As the privileged and totally irresponsible Ivan, Mark Eydelshteyn is believably charming but also believably spineless and punchable. The embodiment of pure undiluted frustration, Karren Karagulian gives off infectious anxiety as Ivan's put-upon Armenian godfather Toros charged with retrieving the boy. Yura Borisov shines as lovable tough guy Igor, consistently and effortlessly stealing his scenes. 

Anora is a wild, chaotic, and deeply earnest emotional ride driven by a truly exceptional leading performance. Despite the somewhat unconventional and ostensibly salacious aspects of its narrative, at its core the picture is an engaging universally-relatable story of misplaced love and heartbreak. The pacing and incessant shouting can be a tad relentless during the second act, but the film starts and ends masterfully.


FRAGMENTS
- Igor is honestly the best, no notes

- While the rapid decline of his physical well-being due to Ani's relentless attacks and straight-up bad luck is incredibly funny, I really hope Garnik is okay
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The 97th Academy Awards

My ranking of the Best Picture Oscar contenders of 2025:

10. Emilia Pérez

* Actual Winner
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Captain America: Brave New World

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD
2025 | Dir. Julius Onah | 119 Minutes

"Steve gave them something to believe in, but you give them something to aspire to."


During a summit at the White House, several mind controlled combatants including Sam Wilson's friend Isaiah Bradley attempt to assassinate President Thaddeus Ross. With Isaiah in jail awaiting a potential death sentence, Sam and his trusted protégé Joaquin Torres race against the clock to uncover the true mastermind behind the plot while an increasingly emotionally erratic Ross begins to unravel.

While Marvel Studios films at their best are able to utilize aspects of their shared universe in fascinating and rewarding ways, it's apparent that on a storytelling level Captain America: Brave New World is too preoccupied with acknowledging previously established continuity to tell an engrossing story of its own. A direct follow-up to the Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Solider, much in the same way Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Marvels are reliant on their tie-in miniseries, this inaugural big screen adventure for Sam's Captain America quite noticeably skims through key exposition, testing the patience of diehard fans, potentially alienating for casual viewers, a disservice to all. The picture throws Sam into an adventure that's a bit too reminiscent of Captain America: The Winter Solider, though with far less intrigue, far more simplistic motivations for its protagonists and antagonists alike, and much less of a dramatic payoff to boot. Sam is primarily driven by his mission to exonerate Isaiah and the inherent complexity of his new role as Cap is all but glossed over. While Ross is given more depth and vulnerability than in his previous appearances, the script never makes a compelling case for this sudden face turn, making it all the more difficult to empathize with him when the central conspiracy turns out to be nothing more than an elaborate revenge plot targeting him.

Throughout the first two acts of Captain America: Brave New World, the action set pieces are ostensibly functional but plainly unimpressive, mostly featuring Sam and Joaquin taking out a bunch of mercenaries or brainwashed soldiers without much flourish. The most engaging sequence during this stretch is Sam's fight against Voelker without the aid of his wings and shield. The visuals finally start feeling cinematic during the skirmish in the skies of Celestial Island with some fun aerial action and the dormant Tiamut serving as an epic backdrop. The climatic fight between Cap and Red Hulk has its moments but never achieves the visceral thrills of Hulk fights from previous films due to the vaguely weightless quality of its action direction.

Anthony Mackie convincingly sells Sam's desire to represent the values of Captain America, working overtime to de-escalate political tension and any potential for violent altercation, but the breathless pacing of the rather thin plot doesn't leave him much room to chew on the hero's inner doubts aside from just one measly scene featuring a special guest star. Taking over for the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross, a seemingly exhausted Harrison Ford does his best to provide emotional depth and humanize the tempestuous statesman on a redemption arc, but the rote conspiracy surrounding his role undermines his efforts. Reprising the part of Joaquin Torres from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Danny Ramirez makes for a charismatic sidekick to Sam, sharing natural friendly banter with Mackie. As the curmudgeonly disenfranchised super solider Isaiah Bradley also returning from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Carl Lumbly gives a reasonably gripping performance, particularly for being quickly sidelined, only to serve as dramatic motivation for Sam. The cast also features Shira Haas as the glowering ex-Widow Ruth Bat-Seraph, Giancarlo Esposito as the terrorist leader Seth Voelker going full Giancarlo Esposito, and Tim Blake Nelson milking what he can out of the supervillain role of Samuel Sterns returning from The Incredible Hulk an astounding seventeen years since he last appeared as the mad scientist.

Despite solid performances from Mackie and Ford, Captain America: Brave New World doesn't deliver enough emotional, dramatic, or narrative impact to be a truly captivating or memorable addition to the vast Marvel Studios catalog. For the cinematic debut of Sam Wilson's Captain America, the film sidesteps having to make a provocative statement of any sort by leaning hard into Sam's diplomatic and empathetic nature in the most milquetoast and simplistic ways imaginable. The picture more or less amounts to a string of recycled and watered-down story beats from the previous Captain America films and The Falcon and the Winter Solder miniseries, a disappointing approach to continuing those narratives arcs.


POST-CREDITS STINGER
Imprisoned on the Raft, Sterns warns Sam of the impending multiversal war.


FRAGMENTS
- The fact that this film doesn't feature the Marvel Studios logo with the fanfare immediately starts it off on a disappointing note

- Henry Jackman's theme for Sam that made its debut in Captain America: The Winter Solider and subsequently expanded into a triumphant fanfare on The Falcon and the Winter Solider is egregiously and upsettingly absent from Laura Karpman's score

- Though its miniseries format is bloated and its finale feels rushed, The Falcon and the Winter Solider features far more provocative ideas than this film

- I'm glad the film ties back to the aftermath of The Eternals, but I have to wonder if we'll ever see those characters again

- The brief cameos from Sebastian Stan as Bucky and Liv Tyler as Betty Ross are nice surprises
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Deadpool & Wolverine

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
2024 | Dir. Shawn Levy | 128 Minutes

"Suck it, Fox! I'm going to Disneyland! Get fucked!"


Wade Wilson once again suits up as Deadpool when a rogue Time Variance Authority agent threatens to mercy kill his branch of the multiverse and spare it from inevitable gradual decay following the death of its anchor being, the heroic X-Man Wolverine. Desperate to save his loved ones from destruction, Deadpool unwittingly recruits the worst Wolverine in the multiverse as a replacement. At odds with TVA forces and the chaotic whims of an evil Omega level mutant, the duo must work together to preserve Deadpool's doomed world.

A direct sequel to the 20th Century Fox Deadpool movies by way of MCU multiverse shenanigans, Deadpool & Wolverine is as inaccessible to the uninitiated as it is a bawdy unpredictable treat for both fans and detractors of the various non-MCU Marvel superhero movie franchises orphaned since the film studio's acquisition by Disney. The plot messily mashes together elements from various MCU and non-MCU Marvel films and television shows, offering virtually nothing to fill newcomers in on the characters and overarching story points, but its eager target audience, on board through thick and thin since 1998's Blade, will most assuredly revel in the pandemonium of it all. While the overall narrative can be boiled down to nothing more than a simplistic tandem redemption story for its titular pair of homicidal frenemies, it serves its purpose as a vehicle for the hyper-violent action sequences, juvenile comedy, and fourth-wall-breaking gags that made the previous Deadpool features so much fun. What sets this third Deadpool picture apart as a unique delight is its access to the wealth of genuinely surprising cameo players from across the Marvel movie multiverse. Very funny metatextual jabs at both erstwhile non-MCU Marvel superhero movies and the MCU's Multiverse Saga aside, it is an unabashed celebration of Marvel cinema past and present, and the love its leading men and the filmmakers have for material translates straight onto screen.

The set pieces for Deadpool & Wolverine are, in a word, bonkers. The laughs from Deadpool's multiverse-traversing montage to find a replacement Wolverine is worth the price of admission alone. Standout action sequences include the Logan-desecrating opening bloodbath, the knock-down drag-out one-on-one fights between the movie's leads, the epic battle between the "Others" of the Void and Cassandra Nova's army of exiled supervillains, and Deadpool and Wolverine's anything-goes one-shot street fight against the massive Deadpool Corps. If there's one aspect that's slightly disappointing, it's a bit of a letdown that so much of the story takes place in the dreary wasteland of the Void.

His public persona inextricably linked to the Merc with a Mouth, Ryan Reynolds is as charming as ever, proving once again that he is the perfect actor to play Deadpool. It goes without saying that if anyone other than Reynolds were in the role, the character would quickly become totally insufferable. Hugh Jackman's deeply depressed perpetually drunk worst Wolverine makes for the very best foil, bringing the same level of gravitas he brought to his past portrayals of Logan, but this time with so much more humor. The chemistry between Reynolds and Jackman is buddy comedy dynamite. As the overambitious TVA agent Paradox, Matthew Macfadyen is convincingly petty and conniving. Emma Corrin is amusingly menacing as the casually cruel Cassandra Nova, particularly when their fingers are protruding out of someone's face.

The supporting cast is rather expansive with some prominent players that really stand out. Rob Delaney reprises his Deadpool 2 role as the ordinary but curiously influential Paul, his unfathomable clout somehow extending into the multiverse. Aaron Stanford returns as Pyro from X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand to give a scummier take on the wayward mutant. Back in their signature superhero roles are Jennifer Garner as Elektra Natchios from 2003's Daredevil and its Elektra spinoff, Wesley Snipes as the titular Daywalker from New Line Cinema's Blade movie trilogy, and Dafne Keen as the Wolverine clone Laura from Logan, characters stranded in liminal space wanting nothing more than a fitting ending. Finally afforded the opportunity to play the cardslinging X-Man Gambit after his spinoff superhero vehicle never left development hell, Channing Tatum puts on a hilariously ridiculous accent while actually looking pretty cool charging things hot pink until they explode. One of the funniest assets of the movie is the mind-blowing fake-out return of Chris Evans not as the MCU's beloved Steve Rogers, but as Johnny Storm the Human Torch from Fox's Fantastic Four movies, allowing him to curse like a pirate and lean hard into his comedy chops.

An irreverent romp through the ashes of defunct Marvel movie worlds, Deadpool & Wolverine is a bloody, foul-mouthed, and all-around hilarious tribute to a bygone brand of superhero films. The picture delivers an overabundance of joy and reverence for the movies that paved the way for and eventually rivaled Marvel Studios' shared universe, though it isn't above making dirty jokes and nearly everything is fair game. It's first and foremost a Deadpool story after all, but one that's presented on the biggest, most extravagant canvas available.


POST-CREDITS STINGER
Deadpool reviews the footage to prove that Johnny lied after all.


STAN LEE CAMEO
Stan the Man appears in an ad for Stanlee Steamer on the side of a bus.


FRAGMENTS
- The movie really goes out of its way to highlight how James Mangold's Logan is just such a great film

- It was stupidly confounding to me at first to learn that Deadpool traveled to the MCU's Earth-616 at one point for a job interview with Happy Hogan, but I realized the practical implications don't really matter because his fourth-wall-breaking antics would naturally allow him to do anything, much less jump across timelines using Cable's time travel device he acquired at the end of Deadpool 2

- While there isn't quite enough dramatic build-up for it to make a strong emotional impact when viewed as a stand-alone film, when viewed as the concluding third installment of the Deadpool movie trilogy it's a decent payoff for Deadpool to finally feel like he accomplished something that matters in saving his timeline from both imminent and eventual destruction

- The sight of the short comics-accurate Wolverine made me laugh so very hard

- My favorite Wolverine variant from the replacement Wolverine montage has got to be Weapon X from Age of Apocalypse, but Cavillrine is a close second

- It's kind of neat that the ragtag team of "Others" more or less represents the beginning (Blade), the bad (Elektra), the good (Laura), and the never-was (Gambit) of the non-MCU Marvel movies

- Seeing Wunmi Mosaku again as B-15 from Loki now leading the TVA is incredibly gratifying

- We never did find out why Thor was holding Deadpool and crying


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Inside Out 2

INSIDE OUT 2
2024 | Dir. Kelsey Mann | 97 Minutes

"That's not gonna haunt us for the rest of our lives at all."


After turning 13, within aspirational hockey player Riley's mind, a new group of complicated emotions lead by Anxiety stages a coup in headquarters. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust must journey to the back of Riley's mind to retrieve the girl's sense of self and return it to headquarters before Anxiety completes a new core persona for Riley rooted exclusively in insecurity.

Inside Out 2 is a well-crafted natural continuation to its predecessor that's as entertaining as it is deeply moving thanks to superb character development and clever approaches to building upon its high-concept premise. Kelsey Mann's feature directorial debut captures all of the challenges and complexity of puberty in a way that's realistically messy but also relatively easy to follow on a narrative level even for younger audiences, benefiting greatly from the fun character designs and delightfully distinct personalities of the expanded cadre of anthropomorphic emotions. Both the epic journey within Riley's mind undertaken by her standard emotions and the personal struggles she faces at hockey camp prove to be very engaging due to her relatability as a character, and her desire to identify herself as a good person while more ego-driven motivations begin to take shape. Literally embracing and accepting all of the conflicting facets of what it means to be a human being with complicated feelings, the film reaches a conclusion that's somewhat unconventional for narratives depicting two conflicting factions, but it's refreshingly balanced and an impressively elegant way to portray the first steps towards maintaining emotional intelligence.

The phenomenal artistic standards of Pixar Animation Studios are on full display here through and through. The feature shows off some of the very best in cinematic 3D animation to date, particularly in the craft of lighting and 3D textures. To single out two settings, the sub-level housing the threads to Riley's sense of self is visually breathtaking, and the mountain of repressed memories in the back of Riley's mind surging back to headquarters like a massive emotional tidal wave in the final act is quite the sight to behold. One of the most creative and hilarious flourishes of the film is in its presentation of two particular characters locked within a mental vault: for Riley's favorite television cartoon dog from her childhood brought to life in minimalistic 2D cell animation, and Riley's video game character crush rendered as a flawed 3D model complete with stiff movement and janky clipping. 

Amy Poehler returns as the voice of Joy bringing more frantic energy, standing out particularly in the moment where Joy admits she's in fact delusional. As Anxiety, Maya Hawke delivers a wild performance that suitably embodies the personification of emotional insecurity, playing the pitiable antagonist to perfection. Playing Riley, Kensington Tallman is the secret MVP of the film, exuding every facet of teenage insecurity from scene to scene. Reprising the part of Sadness, Phyllis Smith doesn't carry as much of the dramatic heft in this story, but the sequel allows her to capitalize on many more funny moments. Lewis Black is once again perfectly cast as Anger, amusingly demonstrating more nuanced facets of the character during the quest to the back of Riley's mind. Tony Hale and Liza Lapira join the ensemble as the new voices of Fear and Disgust respectively, and they fit in seamlessly, both performing with excellent comedic timing. Rounding out the group of new emotions, Ayo Edebiri is incredibly cute as the excitable Envy, Adèle Exarchopoulos is very French and very funny as the ever-aloof Ennui, Paul Walter Hauser perhaps appropriately has one line of dialogue as the painfully shy Embarrassment, and June Squibb is a total scene-stealer as old lady Nostalgia.

A prime example of unexpectedly exceptional Pixar sequels, Inside Out 2 is a must-watch for anyone who loves the first film. The picture explores more sophisticated emotions and appropriately raises the stakes while still delivering an amusing and genuinely touching story about coming to terms with one's feelings in a healthy way. As a work of cinematic art, its gorgeous visuals also demonstrate how Pixar remains one of the very best animation studios in the business.


POST-CREDITS STINGER
The mystery of the Deep Dark Secret is revealed.


JOHN RATZENBERGER AS...
- Mind Worker Fritz


A113
- Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust are brought to Vault ACXIII where they meet other secrets within Riley's mind


PIXAR INTERCONNECTIVITY
- There is a poster in Riley's bedroom for 4*Town, the boy band from Turning Red


FRAGMENTS
- While Andrea Datzman's appropriately brings fresh energy to the film, it's pleasing to that in incorporates Michael Giacchino's theme from the original film

- Pro hockey star Kendall Coyne Schofield lends her voice as a hockey announcer

- I absolutely love Lance Slashblade and how authentic he is to the PlayStation 2 era of Japanese video game character designs, particularly Tetsuya Nomura's work for Final Fantasy


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Yvette Nicole Brown (Phyllis Jenkins in Avengers: Endgame)
 
- Paul Walter Hauser (Harvey Elder in The Fantastic Four: First Steps) 
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