Chain Reactions (2024): I am a fan of what A.O. Philippe is trying to do here – get five people of cinema together to discuss how one film has influenced them. The film is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The people are Patton Oswalt (American actor and comedian), Takashi Miike (Japanese director), Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (Australian film critic), Stephen King (come on, you know this guy) and Karyn Kusama (American director). I only recently watched TTCM and was impressed by its visceral qualities, but listening to these people talk about it definitely opens new avenues of interpretation. Everyone had interesting things to say, but it’s probably Kusama who really brings it all together and makes some really insightful arguments to the movie’s longevity. I do think though that the movie suffers due to its length, feeling a bit diluted. Perhaps one talking head less would have found the ideal balance. That said, definitely something to see for fans of the movie and fans of movie-making in general. 7
Twinless (2025): James Sweeney directed, wrote and starred in this highly acclaimed drama about two guys who connect over the loss of their twin brothers. It’s an unpredictable movie, with some interesting twists and turns, and more moral ambiguity than one usually sees in mainstream American movies. Dylan O’Brien proves a surprisingly strong co-lead, making it easy to emote with his somewhat unusual character. Sweeney’s part, on the other hand, is veering on the obnoxious, struggling to stay grounded in some redeeming qualities. On the one hand, it seems real in the complexity of its characters, but on the other the things that happen are defiantly scripted. So while I can appreciate the movie for being comfortably uncomfortable, I can’t make myself love it. 7
The Founder (2016): I reviewed this one close to its release and I can’t say my thoughts and feelings have changed much since then. Michael Keaton is a great lead, for any movie, and he’s the kind of actor who can very easily switch from personable to despicable, which makes him a great fit for what this role entails. Ray Kroc managed to take and develop the original concept of the McDonald brothers, turning what would otherwise have been a solitary venture into a global empire. Whether he crossed some moral lines or took advantage of the brothers is an almost moot issue, because the two endeavours had very different characters. While this is fairly entertaining, it doesn’t have high ambitions in terms of the narrative or its complexity. Also, as I had previously complained, it doesn’t bother at all to place McD into a present day context, being floated as an act of promotion, more than one of cinema. 6
Hill (2025): As a big Formula 1 fan and someone also familiar with Hill’s autobiography, I felt this movie had very little to offer. Alex Holmes works with the usual materials (talking heads, historical footage), which is put together linearly (for the most part). It is, however, littered with information gaps, focusing solely on a narrow narrative that goes from how Hill couldn’t quite handle Schumacher, to his ascension as a Formula 1 world champion. I never thought too much of DH growing up (careful readers of this blog, if they exist, might recall my Schumacher review), but I do think he is gentlemanly, in an age where F1 was an even greater ego battle than it is today. The one thing the doc does for me is reframe Hill in view of his unlikely entrance into the sport and how well he’s done to maximize that. It was a turbulent time at Williams, who, in spite of having a very strong car, had various internal struggles to deal with. Beyond this, I don’t quite know who to recommend this to. Maybe newer F1 fans looking to get a sense of the sport’s history, but there are several better alternatives for this. Ah, well. 6
Freakier Friday (2025): I have next to no memory of Freaky Friday (2003), but I don’t reckon it’s a requirement to watch and (kinda) enjoy this. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan (!) are back, with Julia Butters and Sophia Hammons turning the twoer-swap into a fourer-swap. The set-up: Lohan is about to get remarried and her daughter does not get along with her to-be stepsister. There’s actually more setup than I expected until the swap itself happened, between the teenagers and the two non-teenage women, and they all need to understand each other’s perspectives before returning to their own bodies. The narrative ambitions are tepid, but the execution works well enough to make the movie amusing, at least. What struck me most was the odd feeling I got watching the actors playing different characters while being in other characters. For whatever reason, it hit me like an inception-train. It’s all too safe to be really funny though and I also didn’t get a true sense of how time has passed since the first, meaning no new avenues were explored here. So it’s pretty much (only) what the packaging promises: more of the same. 6
tributary stu 