April 2025 Roundup
Who needs a job anyways?! It's definitely not something I think about at all.
Hello!
I’m about to embark on a weird phase of my life. No more school! But I still have plenty of crap to catch up on, whether it be finals or articles to write.
Anyway, despite all the work, I still managed to watch a ton of movies this month. No film festivals this month (sad), but plenty of time to think about the world and overthink things. Like having no job! Fun!
Without further ado, here’s the stuff I watched in April. More specifically, let’s get into the movie that made me scream “We are so back!” from the rooftops.
Sinners, dir. Ryan Coogler (2025)
A
I mean this in the best possible way. But holy fucking shit. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. What a fucking movie! Ryan Coogler somehow made one of the best vampire movies ever made. Somehow made a studio horror/musical/action movie in his own way and had fucking unbelievable performances all around (hello Miles Caton!). The film somehow mixes vampires, blues, racism, the American Dream, John Carpenter, Jordan Peele and so much more all into one. I’ve heard some complaints that the vampires didn’t come sooner. But I feel that Coogler is going for something more than just one genre or characterization. Sinners feels like a total release of creative energy from Coogler, and it’s just so rare to see on such a massive scale. When Sammie's (Miles Caton, in an amazing debut performance!) music summons spirits of the past and future, composed of various music genres from the African diaspora and beyond, I felt a profound sense of transcendence. I just could not believe it.
There were some cliches, simplified characterizations, and MCU stuff in here that wasn’t as enjoyable (note a mid-credits scene that was quite good, but I still don’t like the practice), but the end result creates something totally distinct. It’s messy in the best way possible.
And thankfully, after some downright weird reporting from Variety, the trades have come around to celebrating the fact that an original film is making as much money as it is (currently at $175,639,584 worldwide as of May 1). It shuts up all the hand-wringing about the box office that becomes so boring after a while.
So I’ll end by saying this: Go see Sinners. If you want to see an ORIGINAL blockbuster from an incredible director, Sinners is the movie for you, especially if you have enjoyed Coogler’s prior films like Creed or Black Panther. Go see Sinners!
The Shrouds, dir. David Cronenberg (2024)
A-
For being such a well-crafted manifestation of grief, I was kinda shocked and delighted at the level of Burning After Reading conspiracy stupidity there was in it. Total compliment!
A Minecraft Movie, dir. Jared Hess (2025)
F
Honestly, this isn’t an F- only because Jack Black and Jennifer Coolidge were funny. Look, I didn’t want to fool myself into thinking this was going to be some masterpiece, especially since it’s a studio adapting a video game. And honestly, I probably had more fun at this movie than the disaster known as Captain America: Brave New World.
But what makes A Minecraft Movie (As opposed to The Minecraft Movie) such an abomination is that, as a work of adaptation, the film totally crushes and ignores the ethereal feeling of building something by yourself or with friends. Trying to make the act of playing Minecraft as some grand adventure feels ridiculous, emphasized by making the calming music of the game into a shitty knockoff of Alan Silvestri. Much of Minecraft can be a calming experience of collaboration or construction. The film doesn’t seemed bothered with that with phoned and forgettable performances, and piss poor direction (this director made Napoleon Dynamite?). The Nether serves as the perfect metaphor for this movie, a place where creativity goes to die.
Warfare, dir. Alex Garland, Ray Mendoza (2025)
B+
In typical Alex Garland fashion, the movie is too ambivalent for its own good and has some of the most upsetting and bone-chilling tension you’ll see on screen. An overarching question for this movie and the operation that happens in it is simply why. The few Iraqi characters we see on screen, made essentially to be othered by the soldiers, ask similarly when these American soldiers are doing this. The film never answers those questions because it doesn’t want to; it wants you to sit with this is how and what Americans do to the Middle Eastern. Driven to this point, all these soldiers take on the basic instinct of trying to kill the nameless, faceless enemy.
Warfare, in many ways, left me with the same feeling that Sicario did, where the matter-of-fact nature, which leads to sinister results, is effectively depressing, but also makes me wonder how much of this becomes flat-out propaganda. The ending scene complicates this, where we see the actors train with co-director Ray Mendoza, helping these popular internet boy actors become machines of death. The movie clearly focuses on how movies of war become a ringing endorsement of war and it doesn’t have an answer, but the contradictory nature it puts itself in feels thornier and more interesting than Civil War. I guess that has to count for something, right?
Death of a Unicorn, dir. Alex Scharfman (2025)
C
Within the past two to three years, a genre of mostly mediocre movies has emerged, where filmmakers dissect the rich and famous without offering any meaningful insights into these lifestyles or their connection to broader societal forces. Death of a Unicorn might be the prime example of this, along with last year’s piece of crap known as Blink Twice.
The Woman in the Yard, dir. Jaume Collet-Serra (2025)
B+
An excerpt from my Daily Orange review: Plenty of horror movies, particularly from Blumhouse, have thrived by making scary movies with plenty of trauma dumping. The last few years have included boring Blumhouse features like Five Nights at Freddy’s, Imaginary and Insidious: The Red Door, where trauma is used for so-called relatability instead of psychological depth.
It becomes clear early on that the woman in black serves as a representation of the dark feelings that can overcome someone experiencing depression. “The Woman in the Yard” comes close to fully falling into these narrative traps. The way Collet-Serra uses the camera makes the film an engaging and thrilling horror experience.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, dir. Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson (2022)
A-
I will always be a ride-or-die for Guillermo del Toro. No matter if his films might focus on beautiful cinematography or production design over actually complex plotting, I always have a wonderful level of discomfort watching del Toro’s films. This remains the case with his stop-motion version of Pinocchio. He rejiggers the story to take place in Italy during the rise of fascism. While it does make the movie much longer than it ever needs to be, del Toro makes the text so much richer.
In another auteur’s hands, this movie easily could’ve been a way-too-long slog with nothing to say. But thankfully, GDT’s name is in the title, so it feels so careful with what the Oscar-winning director has wanted to say throughout his entire career. I can’t help but appreciate how del Toro can’t stop obsessing over these ideas of creation, fascism, childhood and much more.
A Working Man, dir. David Ayer (2025)
B
Definitely an improvement for the Ayer-Statham duo. Features way less (though still present) of the bizarre and undefined politics of The Beekeeper. Most (but not all) of the action sequences actually have a rhythm and coherence to them, while simultaneously allowing for some natural incoherence. Additionally, the movie just looks solid with Ayer allowing shadows to wash out much of the action that imbues the story with some form of style instead of plenty of current movies that are lit in the dark (poorly) to create the pretense of “realism.”
Character wise, A Working Man has plenty of ridiculous goons and assholes to tackle a subject that’s deathly serious. A yoga-pants wearing grandpa who doesn’t want Statham to see his daughter and blasts Camille Saint-Saëns at parties. A biker gang with each member wearing either a Viking helmet, samurai helmet, or a cowboy hat (Mad Max rejects in the best way possible). A pair of finely dressed Russians who like big guns. A gangster who abuses trafficked girls while looking like The Penguin. It’s totally bizarre and flat-out hilarious at times, but nothing tops when Jason Statham goes full girl dad and gives an honest to god smile.
Playing DJ Shadow at a stereotypical bad guy-hero meetup in the club? Ayer and Statham just get it.
Song to Song, dir. Terrence Malick (2017)
A
One of Terrence Malick's best. I find the way he shoots Austin, Texas, so utterly entrancing. I'm obsessed with the world he creates. Rooney Mara becomes a vessel for all the frustrations, contrivances, and wonder that have made this period of Malick so fascinating to me. These characters might seem one-note, but I genuinely find them to be embodiments of the larger forces in art and society.
I also particularly enjoy the thought of Malick being at the 2012 Texas-Baylor football game. I wanna know what he thought of the post-RGIII Bears.
Wendell & Wild, dir. Henry Selick (2022)
B
An animated film brimming with far more ideas than most Pixar films of the last decade or so. Now, do I think most of these ideas work entirely? Not necessarily, and the movie rushes along the plethora of subplots so the surface world and underworld can meet up at the end. While that makes me lose focus, it’s kind of a miracle that an animated film released on Netflix and made by the man who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline directly took on the private prison system. I really encourage folks to check this one out.
Hook, dir. Steven Spielberg (1991)
C
I never had any nostalgia for this movie, considering this was my first time watching it. But there were some true strengths in Hook, like Dustin Hoffman’s superb performance as the over-the-top/purposeless/suicidal Captain Hook. The rest of the film doesn’t really capture the Spielberg magic, but there’s some stuff here.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask, dir. Woody Allen (1972)
A-
This is the first of my four straight entries on Mr. Woody Allen. Watching these four movies in sort-of rapid succession was rewarding to see how an artist like Allen grew. Among his first six sophomoric humor films, this was certainly one of the better ones, where Allen displays some baseline knowledge of genre to make some hilarious skits about sex.
Sleeper, dir. Woody Allen (1973)
B
We’re getting somewhere, but his science fiction jokes don’t really stick with me. Let’s move on.
Love and Death, dir. Woody Allen (1975)
A
Now he’s starting to cook. Allen has a total understanding of the humor that can come from Leo Tolstoy. Plus, Allen and Diane Keaton are incredible together. Though, not as good as this next movie.
Annie Hall, dir. Woody Allen (1977)
A
Truly nothing like it, no wonder it won Best Picture. Diane Keaton is astounding and Gordon Willis makes Woody’s prior comedies look like trash from a cinematography standpoint. But Annie Hall feels like a distillation of all the strengths from his first six films to create possibly the most inventive romcom ever. Some of the jokes still feel a tad sophomoric, but most of them work as an examination of Freud, the nature of relationships and 1970s New York. I mean, this Marshall McLuhan joke absolutely ruled.
I won’t lie, there are certainly some early moments in the film that feel wildly disconcerting. But this is the inextricable truth of Woody Allen. A hilarious and genre-defining work that’s also uncomfortable with hindsight.
Rifkin’s Festival, dir. Woody Allen (2020)
D-
For some reason, I decided to jump ahead after Annie Hall. It was undoubtedly a mistake. Rifkin’s Festival, a story of an old film critic coming to a film festival with his wife, with whom he is falling out of love, feels so tired and worn out compared to the inventiveness of Allen’s Best Picture winner. I guess it’s what happens when you riff off the same ideas you’ve had for nearly half a century.
Boyhood, dir. Richard Linklater (2014)
A
There’s a robotic quality to this whole movie that feels like it strikes against the praise of feeling “so real.” Yet, I feel Boyhood thrives on striking that balance between grounded to the earth and mechanical representations of Americana. Richard Linklater might be the master of capturing the feelings and environments of this period of time. The quieter moments speak to how this world makes no sense, and trying to find out who you are feels impossible. I don’t know if it’s a great way of explaining it, but it’s why I find Linklater to be such a compelling cinematic presence. Some of the moments feel grating — the references to 2000s pop culture and mechanical dialogue — but the moments of walking down a street or diving in a lake speak to something larger. I’m gonna think about this movie for a while.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, dir. Isao Takahata (2013)
A
This was my first film from the other legendary Studio Ghibli director, the late great Isao Takahata. His last feature film before his 2018 death feels like a vision fully realized. Some of the watercolor backgrounds in this film are jaw-dropping, and the story feels far more thorny and melancholy than Hayao Miyazaki’s films (Not a dig at Miyazaki by the way!). I’m trying to muster the courage to watch Grave of the Fireflies, but I don’t know if I’m mentally prepared.
Non-Stop, dir. Jaume Collet-Serra (2014)
B
When Liam Neeson has to give a speech about how much of a drunk and deadbeat dad he is in an ongoing hostage situation on a plane, I chuckled so hard. I mean this as a compliment. A fun action movie!
Two Days, One Night, dir. Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne (2014)
A-
Never watched a Dardenne brothers movie. This boiled my blood and also showed how great Marion Cotillard can be. I’m excited about what this brother duo comes up with in their new Cannes film, Young Mothers.
The Amateur, dir. James Hawes (2025)
C
Very by the numbers but had enough Rami Malek weirdness in it to be passable. I really don’t know what else to say about this one.
Drop, dir. Christopher Landon (2025)
B
They should ban restaurants at the top of skyscrapers. Heights are big scary. I’m glad Christopher Landon understands how to make a nice Alfred Hitchcock/Brian De Palma knock-off.
Stars at Noon, dir. Claire Denis (2022)
B+
Shoutout to Claire Denis for making a COVID movie about total losers. Kinda hilarious it was Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn of all people.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, dir. Laura Poitras (2022)
A
Very few documentaries deserve an A this decade, with so many of them being hollow or flat-out commercials for their subjects. This is emphatically not that. As powerful and tragic as you would expect in a documentary brimming with the very idea of resistance. Powerful stuff.
The Fabelmans, dir. Steven Spielberg (2022)
A
Nearly sobbed the second the movie started. I can't believe ol’ Stevie Spielberg made this. Read more about my original thoughts here!
Aftersun, dir. Charlotte Wells (2022)
A
So I’m a total idiot for not watching this sooner, right? This is by far one of the best movies of the decade and I missed the chance to watch it in theaters. Charlotte Wells’ debut feature feels so assured of itself and so interested in exploring how cinema both connects and keeps us at a distance from our past. Multiple compositions in the film left my jaw dropping and my heart sinking. Unreal.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
B
See, this movie has fewer ideas than Wendell & Wild, but I found the one idea it stuck to — anxiety around death — to be strong enough to make this, albeit standard, animated adventure. Plus, the visuals look fun and remind me plenty of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which is a huge compliment.
Crash, dir. Paul Haggis (2004)
D-
I wasn’t even 15 minutes into the film before I thought it was such a vile, racist piece of filth. I feel like such an idiot for thinking it was OK back when I first watched it. WHY DID ROGER EBERT LIKE THIS!?!?
The Happening, dir. M. Night Shyamalan (2008)
C+
Everyone is wrong about this movie. Sure, the dialogue is ridiculous, and Mark Wahlberg was TOTALLY miscast as the lead. I mean, just watch this.
But plenty of people don’t understand the idea that M. Night Shyamalan was making a B-movie. Is it the best B-movie in the world? No. But so much of how the characters interact with each other in the face of crisis feels quite fascinating.
Slumdog Millionaire, dir. Danny Boyle (2008)
B
It really shouldn’t have won Best Picture, as it’s an Indian story told from such a predominantly white gaze, and The Dark Knight exists. That being said, Danny Boyle still has the ability to make any standard script look interesting (it’s why 28 Years Later is a much more interesting legasequel). At least we got Dev Patel out of it. He rocks.
Until Dawn, dir. David F. Sandberg (2025)
D-
Making a horror video game into something of its own cinematically isn’t a bad thing. Making a horror movie full of the biggest horror cliches and contrived scares is. The movie has the same DNA of the shittiest Blumhouse films with such little imagination. I talk about it more here.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High, dir. Amy Heckerling (1982)
A-
Possibly the perfect teenager movie. Sean Penn should’ve been given an Oscar for this instead of Mystic River. Not necessarily saying he was bad in that Clint Eastwood film. But I believe him more as a California surfer than a Boston gangster.
Barry Lyndon, dir. Stanley Kubrick (1975)
A
Perfect movie. Incredible to see on a big screen and it's one of the best comedies ever. The fact that this isn’t Kubrick’s masterwork is mind-boggling. Here are my original thoughts!
The Incredible Hulk, dir. Louis Leterrier (2008)
D+
The last MCU movie I hadn’t seen. I should’ve waited a little longer. Thank god Edward Norton is no longer the Hulk. He sucks in this role!
Additionally, an excerpt from a totally cool essay I wrote.
I wrote an essay on the relationship between the late, great David Lynch’s “final” major work, Twin Peaks: The Return and the 94-year-old Clint Eastwood’s possible final film, Juror No. 2. I dissect what the two men have wanted to say about America and what it evens to close out one’s filmography.
If this excerpt interests you, check out the whole thing at Film Obsessive!
Excerpt:
With Twin Peaks: The Return and Juror #2, Lynch and Eastwood continued to obsess and examine their interests in all of the nastiness, beauty and foibles of America. While these works from two major directorial figures may have differing conclusions and thoughts on America itself, Lynch and Eastwood still display a curiosity about this country and its people, even in their advanced age. The endings of Lynch’s 18-part odyssey and Eastwood’s courtroom drama highlight not just the horror and unsettling nature of the suburbs, but they also undercut the entire notion of wanting to “go out on top.” Once Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) lets out one final scream in The Return and District Attorney Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette) tracks down Justin (Nicholas Hoult) in Juror #2, we see how Lynch and Eastwood never stopped thinking about a wound at America’s heart, and these two directors keep dissecting it.
That’ll be all for today!
Cheers and hopefully you can experience Chicken Jockey.