Blue Moon (2025): Linklater has been productive this year, with Blue Moon his, seemingly, lesser movie. I don’t know about that (haven’t seen Nouvelle Vague), as Blue Moon is an entertaining, old-school story about ego and a broken man. Ethan Hawke has a blast playing Lorenz Hart, famed composer alongside Richard Rodgers. The movie is set just as Rodgers has his first major success with someone other than Hart, with the latter struggling to cope with it. At the same time, Hart is infatuated with a young aspiring actress, making for a terribly sad middle-aged man, with alcohol addiction. Hawke’s verve is terribly fun and it’s hard not to feel for the character, even as movie doesn’t build towards a very strong finale. But I felt it hit on such a level of personal tragedy, that it stayed with me well after the credits rolled. 8
The Friend (2024): I’m unsure why I stayed away from this one. It stars Bill Murray and Naomi Watts, who are generally wonderful to see on screen, and it includes themes of writing, greater than life characters and existential qualms. Meaning, deep introspective stuff. And a gorgeous dog, too! Sure, the death thing is a bit of a bummer, but it’s an entry point. I generally liked the movie, even as it forces conflict where it need not (admin, really?), which also makes it stretch out longer than it had to. The way in which it explores the relationship between its main characters is dynamic and lively, although one is in literal post-mortem. The one thing that really bugged me though was the weird cop out at the end, where it tries to do something so appalling I was instantly disgusted by it. It pulls back, yet the bitter taste lingers. 7
If You Were the Last (2023): What if we do the rom part of Passangers, only quirky? A reasonable endeavour and one that’s executed with considerable charm and visual panache. With Wes Anderson-y vibes and building on the chemistry of its leads, Zoë Chao and Anthony Mackie, this is a great empty calorie cinematic meal. The story builds towards the the ever growing connection between the two, without bothering too much about anchoring them in anything other than the universally generic big question: why shouldn’t we have sex? As long as they find themselves in the safe confines of their spaceship, both they and the movie thrive. Unfortunately, there’s a half hour epilogue about how they have to deal with down-to-earth-realities, which plays out routinely. But I think this is all in all an easy one to like. Also, what a lovely rendition of Head Over Heels. 7
The Nine Kittens of Christmas (2021): When the season approaches, you’ve got to find your Hallmark Christmas ju – I mean gems. This classic stars Brandon Routh, aka Superman, and Kimberley Sustad. Routh brings his easy charm, but there are no sparks between him and Sustad. He does however make what would otherwise be a totally mundane Christmas story, about placing nine kittens and, naturally, convincing big city girl to move to small town life, tolerable. I won’t go far beyond that, because I have yet to really develop my appreciation for the genre. No matter how mindless these movies can be, the only real problem I see with them, is that they, most often, just have no emotional core. When they do, they’re perfect Christmas stuffing. This one, eh. 5
Rambo: Last Blood (2019): You know, I actually liked Rambo (2008). It was ludicrous, gory, unrestrained, and featured a series of intense, visceral kill sequences. This one, not so much. Released more than ten years after its predecessor, with an aging Stallone and some godawful writing, Adrian Grunberg’s movie is off in all kinds of ways. Firstly, it’s Taken x Home Alone. Secondly, it wastes an hour before any real action gets going. Thirdly, the “end product” is generic in unredeemable ways. Sure, it’s nice to see Rambo’s literal man cave blow up, and the final mayhem is serviceable, but you would really think they’d try to give the man, the legend a warmer send off. Sad. 4
tributary stu 