Category: Drama
-
The Rip Review: Good Will Stunting
THE RIP (2026) Why did I hate this movie? Everyone involved is working hard to make it look and sound good, which it does, if it’s a tad dark and loud. I’ll always tune in for Matt Damon, and he’s good, and serious and working hard as usual here. The story, based on real events,…
-
Train Dreams Review: Memoirs of an invisible man
TRAIN DREAMS (2025) What are we doing here, really? It’s a child’s question. It’s the question, whether we meditate on it throughout our lives or distract ourselves long and well enough to avoid it each and every minute. It’s always there. Are we all part of a planetary fabric, woven together, connected and large? Is…
-
The Threesome Review: Oh so sexy, until it’s not
The Threesome (2025) Oh the threesome. Who hasn’t thought this could be among the highlights of one’s youthful (or not so youthful) sexual misadventures. And what fun it is to watch a trio of consenting adults dip their toes into orgy waters. And the title deed was not unsatisfying. The participants, Olivia, Connor and Jenny…
-
Top Five Worst Films of 2025
These lists are bullshit. Movies, film, art, blockbusters…they are designed to entertain us in exchange for money. It’s a system and that’s okay, as it’s what we got and it works for now. The good ones make us feel; feel excited, annoyed, joy, and away from our lives for a short while as we experience…
-
Bugonia review: Stone is busy as a bee
BUGONIA (2025) We all want to believe. Don’t we? Someone or something must be in charge of all of this, this chaos is ordered somehow, and we all receive our just desserts eventually; or are the winners on this planet simply taking the rest of us for fools as they manipulate our minds and souls…
-
The Smashing Machine review: The Boring Machine
THE SMASHING MACHINE (2025) I’ll watch all kinds of movies. Good, bad, so bad they’re good, silly, heart-warming, heart-breaking, and my utmost favourite and the best kind in my opinion, fun. The Smashing Machine (2025) doesn’t fall into any of these categories, in fact it’s the worst kind, and I’ll get to that. Now this…
-
Caught Stealing Review: Snatch-ing a Guy’s guy
CAUGHT STEALING (2025) Way way back in the 90s, I saw the little psychological thriller Pi (1998) written and directed by up-and-comer Darren Aronofsky. It was different; a stylized black and white arthouse mystery about a mathematician searching for a number that would unlock nature’s secrets and universal patterns. Roughly a year later I saw…
-
Together Review: Cut and fun
TOGETHER (2025) Once again, in my opinion, we have an example of a movie promotional campaign giving away too much. Now I am one of those people who hates movie trailers. A writer (or writers) often go to a lot of trouble to create a narrative that aims to intrigue us viewers so that we…
-
Materialists Review: A 24-carat mistake
MATERIALISTS (2025) Is it just me, or did Dakota Johnson look to have lost her way there for a while? Not that I’ve paid very close attention, as I’ll admit I am not a huge fan; not because I don’t think she’s a capable actress, in fact she’s very capable. I thought her casting in…
-
Eddington Review: Smurf Village from Hell
EDDINGTON (2025) There is a lot going on in director Ari Aster’s Eddington. It’s namesake is a small town in New Mexico and stage for a new age western hurtling us back in time to 2020. Halfway into its 2 hour and 28 minute runtime, I started to see it as an adult, bizarro version…
-
The Shrounds Review: A kiss cam from a rose on the grave
THE SHROUDS (2024) As a lifelong David Cronenberg fan (and fellow Canadian/ex-Torontonian), I’m obviously and always up for his intersection of psychological and technological body horror that he aided and abetted and elevated. The beautifying of the grotesque is at the foundation of his work, whether it takes the form of well lit mutations, infection…
-
F1: The Movie Review: F me it’s pretty good
F1: THE MOVIE (2025) I wasn’t excited for this one. I have never, and I mean never, watched a Formula 1. I’m a foreigner when it comes to this world, but I do love and appreciate summer blockbusters and as far as movie stars go, Brad Pitt has yet to be overtaken. Well, that’s not…
-
The Surfer Review: All work and no surf makes Nick a dull boy
THE SURFER (2025) I have always felt that Nicolas Cage is more of a force of nature than a human. A tornado of a being; an energy that can be harnessed for brilliant cinematic creations or catastrophic misfires. Much like a loaded pistol, the direction depends very much on who is holding the weapon. And…
-
Magazine Dreams Review – Think big
MAGAZINE DREAMS (2023) All I knew about this film going in was that it focussed on a bodybuilder, specifically the competition-going/fitness magazine model type. I expected a film about the ins and outs of this lifestyle, as it is an offbeat choice for a lot of men and women, demanding discipline and pain. And while…
-
Black Mirror – Eulogy Review: Every season has its winner
BLACK MIRROR (2011-2025) – Eulogy Black Mirror has often (and rightly) been compared to another science fiction anthology series The Twilight Zone (1959-1964); and like Black Mirror, not every episode was meant to induce dread and alarm. Sometimes they were, although haunting, downright sweet. I’m thinking specifically of The Twilight Zone Epiosde 101: The Changing of…
-
Black Bag Review: Quiet luxury
BLACK BAG (2025) Sleek, stylish, sexy? Yes, yes and yes. What more can be said about Black Bag, a new spy thriller from director Steven Soderbergh – Out of Sight (1998), The Limey (1999), Ocean’s Eleven (2001). It is indeed a laser-focused story of espionage with secret agents being married and/or in entanglements, exuding accomplished…
-
Riff Raff Review: Less riffing more raff
RIFF RAFF (2025) Truth be told, I didn’t have high hopes for director Dito Montiel’s – A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006), Man Down (2015) – latest offering Riff Raff, but the cast was intriguing. I mean, Bill Murray as a shady underworld crime boss accompanied by the preternaturally creepy/depressive Pete Davidson has a…
-
Anora Review: Cinderella’s American Dream
ANORA (2024) Anora is a lot of things. Or, what do you want it to be, so to speak. It’s a rags to riches story, as in one minute one is turning tricks, honestly enough, and is rewarded with a lottery win and all of the presumed consumptions that come with it; luxury vacations and…
-
A Complete Unknown review: You’re bound to fall
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN (2024) The great artists of the world critically reflect life back at us with their words, images and bodies, and nothing but the truth will be recognized or tolerated. It is such a lofty endeavour that even the act of pursuing it fascinates, because this hunt reveals the only and most heartbreaking…
-
The Brutalist Review: Brutal by design
THE BRUTALIST (2024) I can be trite and and say that it’s brutal. I can point out its honesty. The unsympathetic cinematography. The wide open line reads. The unattractiveness. Large relationships are presented and vanish and character endings are left dangling. It alludes to deeds unseen and skips over the fallout and resolutions. Is it…
-
Wrecked Review: Wrecked ’em? Damn near killed ’em!
WRECKED (2010) With Adrien Brody winning the 2025 Oscar for Best Actor for The Brutalist (2024), we thought a review of a lesser-known Brody film that wasn’t well as well-received upon its release was in order. And so…we jump back fifteen years, eight years after his first Best Actor Oscar win for The Pianist (2002),…
-
Babygirl: Kidman’s coming of age
BABYGIRL (2024) The premise is obvious from the movie poster: an older woman has an affair with a much, much younger man. We’ve seen this before. In fact we’ve seen this from Nicole Kidman within the same year with A Family Affair (2024), and from Anne Hathaway in The Idea of You (2024); both passable,…
-
Hypnotic Review: Zzzzzzzzzz
HYPNOTIC (2021) Look before you leap they say. And I dove in after watching only a few seconds of its trailer; Hypnotic promised to be a cheesy thriller/chiller with, most likely, a heavily telegraphed ending. No surprises to be had here and no one made me watch it. Now “Starring Kate Siegel“ is never going…
-
The Promised Land Review: Move over moors
THE PROMISED LAND (2023) Are you comforted by a faith in order, manmade or otherwise? Or do you see the chaos, with its fortune and fortitude at play as we plan, react and fumble with survival, and where success has no definition? For those in The Promised Land, an historical drama set on the once…
-
A Real Pain Review: Somber Succession
A REAL PAIN (2024) Last night Kieran Culkin was awarded his second Golden Globe for best supporting actor in his first movie category nomination for his performance in A Real Pain, a film written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg (who also co-stars). I don’t disagree at all. Culkin is phenomenal here. Now, after watching a…
-
Nightbitch Review: Bitch, please!
NIGHTBITCH (2024) In tandem with the obligatory sex education videos that outline the mechanics of conception played in front us in elementary school, I recommend Nightbitch be viewed by all parties ready to yield the fruits of its base intention, as its visceral purpose is magical, transformative, brutal and, for the strongest among us, hilarious. It…
-
Conclave Review: What would Lawrence do?
CONCLAVE (2024) When the title card Conclave splashed across the screen, I had no idea what it meant. Though never outright defined, the gist becomes evident as a large group of Roman Catholic cardinals assemble at the Vatican after the death of the pope. It’s an election. And it’s fascinating. Lead by Cardinal Lawrence (the…
-
Saturday Night Review: Better than Monday Morning
SATURDAY NIGHT (2024) Newer (often younger) viewers, unfamiliar with past generations of Saturday Night Live, may be unaware of the extent of SNL’s cultural impact and reasoning for its perpetual real estate in the zeitgeist. The show (and its players) were at the forefront of comedy, being that it help push past those first boundaries…
-
A Different Man Review: Definitely Different
A DIFFERENT MAN (2024) A Different Man is the adult fairy tale we didn’t know we needed. Instead of a big bad wolf to fear, it’s one’s projections that lead to despair and suffering. Imagine Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid (2023), Charlie Kaufman’s Synechdoche, New York (2008), Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance (2024), a Cronenberg-ian biological…
-
The Substance of Demi Moore: Body Art
Though not perfect (we have thoughts, see our review), Demi Moore’s newest film The Substance is a cheeky choice for the American actress. Some might say it’s courageous and daring, being that she is literally baring it all while deconstructing the plight of an aging Hollywood starlet. It’s bullseye casting. However, we argue that this…
-
Best Film Battle Daniel Day-Lewis: There Will Be Blood vs. The Age of Innocence
When news broke that one of the greatest actors of his generation was coming out of retirement after seven years, no one was more excited than us here at Premium Def. Anemone marks the directorial debut of Daniel Day-Lewis’ son Ronan, a film co-written by the father/son duo. This got us excited and talking and…
-
5 Thanksgiving films that don’t have Thanksgiving in the title…
…and so you may missed that they are in fact Thanksgiving films Hopefully your first Thanksgiving watch was A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973). This list is for watching after that most wholesome introduction: PRISONERS (2013) In Denis Villeneuve’s thriller, Hugh Jackman’s character (the Bruce Spingsteen lovin’, deer huntin’, independent contractin’ Father Keller Dover) offers…