Raised On Popcorn With Grant

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is the continuation of a franchise that started great and keeps getting better and better. The film follows detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, still killing it in this role) as he is called to a church to investigate the seemingly impossible murder of the monsignor (Josh Brolin) whose hateful nature made him a lot of enemies not least of which a kindhearted but hotheaded young priest (Josh O’Conner, excellent) new to the parish, it’s detective Blanc on the case again. Wake Up Dead Man is the most thematically rich installment in this franchise yet, a great unpredictable mystery but also something more, a thoughtful dramedy about faith and how that faith is commodified and exploited by those serving evil in the name of god. All this could be a lot to juggle but Rian Johnson once again proves himself a master at tone and narrative gymnastics and makes sure the film’s emotional subtext and whodunnit shenanigans both are equally given the time and ...

Zootopia 2 is the rare sequel that may just be better than the original. The film picks up shortly after the events of the original, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are now newly minted partners but are already in crisis, when Gary De’Snake seeks to find something that will show the roots of reptile discrimination in zootopia and Judy and Nick are caught in the middle and framed as fugitives they must clear their names. Zootopia was a charming and clever if overpraised animation, but Zootopia 2 is a truly great sequel that takes the original’s best elements (unique world, inventive gags and social commentary) and expands and enriches them. It’s not a perfect film, it runs a bit too long in the middle and the character animation to me doesn’t live up to the Disney gold standard, but overall Zootopia 2 is top tier family entertainment.  I Give It 4 1/2 Stars!!!

Train Dreams is one of those hypnotic incredible films that sneaks up on you. The film follows Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton in an oscar worthy performance) a railway constructer in the early 20th century and the various regrets, love, loss and change he experiences over his long life. Train Dreams is an incredible achievement in both filmmaking and storytelling using narration, imagery and minimal dialogue to get across all the pain and glory of a life lived well but with costs and regrets. Director Clint Bentley beautifully articulates Robert’s story without treating the audience like it’s dumb or inattentive. This is a truly must see film and one of the year’s best.  I Give It 5 Stars!!!

The Family Plan 2 is a thing that exists, notice i didn’t call it a movie because it really isn’t one, it’s an algorithmic synecdoche of one. The film follows the continuing adventures of the morgan family (remember them, me neither) who are struggling to have a normal family Christmas after discovering used car salesman patriarch (Mark Wahlberg, who hasn’t been in sneezing distance of good material in a while) was actually a deadly assassin, when another ghost from dad’s past (Kit Harrington, slumming it) comes calling the morgan Christmas vacation becomes another action packed adventure, Queue the constant chaos and explosions in place of jokes. There is one joke in The Family Plan 2, Wahlberg’s daughter is in a relationship with a man with a french accent who calls Wahlberg daddy much to his chagrin. Did you find that funny? I sure hope so, because they repeat it 14 times. The Family Plan 2 is not a movie, it’s a machine that swallows cynicism, christmas settings, talented actors an...

Rental Family is a lighthearted charming comedy hiding something deeper and darker that never quite eclipses the surface but still nonetheless works. The film centers on Phillip (Brendan Fraser, bringing his natural charm and warmth) a struggling american actor living in Japan, who is hired for a most unusual acting job, becoming part of an agency that rents actors to stand in for major figures in people’s lives. He soon becomes a groom for a young woman, a journalist interviewing a beloved actor now in the throes of dementia and a father to a young girl for the purposes of documentation for a new school, through these experiences he unexpectedly connects with the people he is asked to play a part in the lives of. Rental Family is a sweet little fable that sometimes struggles with the moral implications of its premise but benefits hugely from Fraser’s terrific performance (seriously i feel like anyone else in this role would have made the flaws in this story less easy to forgive) and s...

Wicked: For Good is a near perfect conclusion that ends one of the best musical film adaptations of recent years on the highest of notes. The film picks up 5 years after last year’s Wicked, The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) have turned the people of Oz against Elphaba (Cynthia Ervo, still fantastic) transforming her into The Wicked Witch and Elphaba’s former frenemy Glinda (Ariana Grande, ditto) has become a puppet for the wonderful Wiz’s propaganda machine hoping to finally reach her friend Glinda alongside Fiyero attempts to convince Elphaba to join them alongside the wizard but when that goes sideways these characters will finally face their destinies…oh and also the arrival of a farm girl from kansas complicates matters further. Wicked was a triumph both as a stand alone effort and the beginning of a larger story, Wicked: For Good is a little different, it’s darker, more bittersweet and absolutely works best in tandem with it’s predecessor. Some will fi...

Is This Thing On? is that rarest of things, a feel good film that actually makes you feel good. The film centers on Alex Novak (Will Arnett in a rare and strong dramatic performance) a man struggling with a recent separation from wife Tess (Laura Dern, terrific) who with a mix of not wanting to pay for drinks and the influence of his friend’s “special” cookies, decides to go on stage at a new york comedy club open mic and discovers he might just have a hidden talent for stand up comedy. The third feature from co-writer/co-star/director Bradley Cooper is a modest film lacking the dynamic filmmaking of A Star Is Born or Maestro but that is ultimately a benefit, Cooper has a great premise and lead in Arnett and smartly steps out of the way allowing the material to speak for itself. Is This Thing On? is a small film and i don’t want to overpraise it but in its own modest way it’s truly wonderful and smart in how it weaves a feel good story with authentic depictions of the Comedy Club scene...

Nouvelle Vague is a delightful love letter from one great filmmaker to another. The film follows Jean-Luc Godard, a film critic in 1959, who mounts his directorial debut Breathless which becomes a benchmark for the French New Wave and makes an international star of Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch, spectacular), but his difficult personality and inexperience almost derail the film. Nouvelle Vague is a terrific film about filmmaking, Richard Linklater’s black & white french language film is not merely a big wet kiss to Godard, but a love letter to every artist who breaks all the rules to change and progress an art form. Having knowledge of Godard is not required here, just a love for films about misfits overcoming the odds. I loved this film, every second of it.  I Give It 5 Stars!!!

Keeper is a film that creates a bit of a conundrum in trying to review it, how do you review a movie if you can barely talk about it out of fear of spoilers. The film centers on Liz & Malcolm (Tatiana Maslany & Rossif Sutherland) a young couple spending a weekend in Malcolm’s high end cabin, when Malcolm is called on a work emergency Liz is left alone in the house and soon is besieged by strange visions and possibly something truly sinister. Keeper is a film that should have a “for weirdos only” sticker attached. This is true surrealisty horror, a film built less on plot but on off-center vibes and world building. It is almost tailor made to divide audiences even among director Osgood Perkins fanbase. I must admit this is on the weaker end of the Perkins canon but i truly admired the commitment to putting an audience through a truly unique world built entirely on nightmare logic. Keeper isn’t necessarily a keeper among Perkins filmography but it definitely has some good surreal...

A Very Jonas Christmas Movie is way more enjoyable than it has any right to be. The film follows the Jonas Brothers as they try to get home for christmas but find themselves facing a series of misadventures and musical numbers along the way. This is a genuinely fun film, breezy, campy, self aware and at 80 minutes just enough of a good thing. The cameos are entertaining, the music is fun and the humor mostly lands. Overall a really solid family holiday pick especially for Jonas Brothers fans.  I Give It 3 1/2 Stars!!!

Sisu: Road To Revenge is like its predecessor a pure lean mean action extravaganza with a sick sense of humor. Picking up shortly after the original it’s 1946 and after becoming a legend for his nazi annihilating antics former Finnish commando Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila, a badass of few words once again) just wants to go home to finland and rebuild his destroyed house but a pesky russian officer (Stephen Lang) who killed Korpi’s family is tasked with capturing our badass hero and soon finds himself and his men on the receiving end of a machine of pure vengeance. Sisu: Road To Revenge like its predecessor is like a WWII comic book come to life, bonkers violence, sneering villains and a simple stripped down narrative. On this particular basis both these films are downright brilliant in how much pure inventive ways the filmmakers can annihilate cackling villains. Pure action cinema without the slightest bit of cynicism these films are just genuinely great grindhouse entertainment.  I...

No Other Choice is a brilliant satire on the modern workforce and its devaluing of its workers. The film centers on Yoo Man-Su (Lee Byung-Hun in a brilliant madcap performance) a hard luck paper factory manager who upon losing his job and struggling to find another, discovers he might have a shot at a hip new paper company but upon discovering three men who are ahead of him for potential employment and struggling to keep his home and provide for his family Yoo resorts to desperate deadly measures. No Other Choice is an ingenious indictment of the deeply broken modern workforce and its treatment of its workers as expendable and how in turn it drives them to believe their fellow human beings are expendable too. The great Park Chan-Wook is a master at hooking us into a unique story and then keeping us on our toes as he plays us like a fiddle with every twist and turn. The film sometimes almost plays like if Tarantino directed a classic Buster Keaton slapstick film, it’s hilarious but also...

The Running Man is exactly what you would want and expect from an Edgar Wright directed reboot of an 80s action flick. The film centers on Ben Richards, a good man with a bad temper living in a dystopian society after being blacklisted he has no choice but to take part in the highest rated and most barbaric game show The Running Man if he can survive 30 days he can make enough money to save his sick daughter and live comfortably, but the show’s sadistic producer won’t let him win without a fight. The Running Man is pure exhilarating action occasionally interrupted by sharp satire and black humor. Edgar Wright uses his signature brand of high energy filmmaking to throwback to old school 90s action cinema. The film is an absolute blast but also has meaningful things to say about our troubled times. Run don’t walk to The Running Man.  I Give It 5 Stars!!!

Muzzle: City Of Wolves is a film that struggles to even articulate If it wants to be associated with its predecessor or not. This film follows a grizzled cop (Aaron Eckhart, looking in every scene like someone just dragged him out of bed and he wants to deck that someone in the face) and his canine partner as they hunt dangerous drug lords and become fugitives. Technically this film is ostensibly a sequel to the very little seen (including by me) 2023 VOD flick Muzzle but it could also be any other generic bad cop movie. This is a film that’s plot hinges on apparently existing in a world where security cameras and body cams don’t exist, every person of color is either deranged or a sadistic drug lord and dogs who have just been murdered can be easily replaced as if the former pooch never existed. So far so VOD slop, the problem is the filmmakers believe they are making a thoughtful and deep film about crime and punishment and proceed with laughably pretentious platitudes about men and ...

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t follows the first two films mission statement almost to the letter. The film picks up 10 years after the second film, the horsemen have separated and a trio of young illusionists have filled a sort of cover band role, however The eye has brought the horsemen back together to bring down a south african diamond magnate and they need the trio’s help. So the horseman and a new generation team up for their greatest trick yet. The Now You See Me films operate under the mission statement of “don’t question logic, it’s magic” and that same rule applies to this third installment. If you go with the illogical shenanigans you will have fun, if you try analyzing for more than two minutes it falls to pieces. Now You Don’t is no masterpiece but it serves its purpose of reviving this dormant franchise and showing it still has some fresh tricks up its sleeve, i had fun but people not on board will not be convinced.  I Give It 4 Stars!!!

The Girlfriend is a film that feels in regards to Indian cinema almost unprecedented: a powerful and feminist character study with a three dimensional female protagonist. The film centers on Bhooma (Rashmika Mandanna in a star making performance) a grad student who falls hard for the charming Vikram (Dheekshith Shetty, also strong) but soon Vikram’s seeming quirks become much less charming and much more toxic and controlling with Bhooma now stuck in an emotionally abusive relationship can she take her power back? The Girlfriend is a small treasure, a little film with a huge gut punch. Credit must go to Mandanna who gives a terrific performance, charming than heartbreaking than badass as she fights to take back her agency, but credit is also due to writer/director/co-star Rahul Ravindran who crafts the kind of story we rarely see in Indian cinema, a thoughtful story that has three dimensional characters regardless of gender and a narrative that challenges culture norms in a thoughtful a...

Lost & Found In Cleveland is a 5 car pileup of lame comedy, failed drama and misguided social commentary. The film follows various folks in the ohio city converging on a forthcoming taping of an Antiques Roadshow style appraisal tv series at christmas (because…i don’t know reasons?) and what follows is essentially one decent subplot involving a grieving Mailman (Dennis Haysbert, one of many talented actors wasted on this limp Love Actually wannabe), about 3 merely bad ones and one subplot involving an overly anxious professor and his recent inheritance of a bunch of racist figurines from his grandmother that results in the kind of attempt at social commentary and flopsweat humor that would barely pass muster on a z-grade tyler perry sitcom, the kind of plot that invented the term “oh brother”. This is essentially a lame though i guess well intentioned “comedy” that has a perfect ratio of lame jokes and shameless Sherwin Williams product placement. There is one genuinely great laugh...

 Grand Prix Of Europe is what i like to call a neuralyzer film, a film that you forget instantly after walking out the exit door of the theater. The film centers on a mouse named Edda whose only dream is to race in the grand prix after the star racer Ed is injured Edda takes his place and fulfills her racing dreams. Grand Prix Of Europe is a colorful and occasionally amusing film that basically vaporizes on contact with the brain. Basically an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, this film will appeal to little kids, really little, anyone over about 7 will feel intellectually malnourished. A serviceable babysitter meant to fill in before Wicked: For Good and Zootopia 2 dominate the holiday box office, you could do worse but why not wait a week or so for better.  I Give It 2 Stars!!!

Eternity is a romantic comedy with a unique sense of ambition that it (mostly) pulls off. The film centers on elderly couple Larry & Joan (Miles Teller & Elizabeth Olsen, later on) who both die Larry from choking on a pretzel and joan shortly after from cancer, they soon find themselves at a sort of way station to well the afterlife with countless booths of cool afterlives to choose from, but trouble soon arises when Joan’s first husband who died in the Korean War (Callum Turner) arrives, who will joan choose to spend eternity with? Eternity is a film with one hell of a high concept and it knows it and is endlessly inventive in how it builds the various unique worlds and is packed with inventive background gags. It also helps to have Olsen in the lead who is effortlessly terrific with both the screwball humor and emotion the script asks of her. The film sometimes struggles with slow patches and can sometimes feel like a 90 minute movie stretched to 2 hours, but overall Eternity...

Hamnet is a film that asks a powerful question “how does art come from tragedy and how does that art help us heal?” The film tells the story of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal, excellent) and wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley in an oscar worthy performance) as they fall in love and have three children one of whom is a little boy named Hamnet when tragedy strikes and the relationship begins to splinter William begins to mount a new very personal play that will change everything. Hamnet is a deeply emotional film that requires an open heart but earns it with a truly powerful film with a doozy of a third act. Director Chloe Zhao is a master at tactile realism and she makes us feel every inch of the environment and the people within it. The cynical will reject Hamnet with the dreaded “Oscar bait” label but sometimes those films can transcend those trappings to be truly great, Hamnet is one of those films.  I Give It 5 Stars!!!

Frankenstein is a stunning and haunting take on a timeless story from the great Guillermo Del Toro. The film faithfully follows the tale of Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac, absolutely fantastic) a troubled mad scientist obsessed with immortality who creates an equally troubled Creature (Jacob Elordi in an oscar worthy performance) and soon finds himself in a twisted father son relationship as mistakes in his upbringing resurface leading to dark consequences. Del Toro fundamentally understands something crucial about this classic text, it’s not a horror or monster story, it’s a gothic tragedy about a creator who fears death but must face it and a creation who fears life but can’t escape it. The film is incredibly faithful to the source material allowing itself sequences and shifting POVs that are very rarely in adaptations of this novel. Through all this Del Toro once again takes us to another world and makes it come alive, the set design, the scale it feels real to us, but if that’s a...

Sentimental Value is the purest distillation of why movies are the greatest art form that i have seen in 2025, Joachim Trier’s latest is a powerful example of the empathy machine firing on all cylinders. The film centers on the Borg sisters Nora (Renate Reinsve, in another excellent performance) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in a star making performance), there estranged father Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård, fantastic) is a legendary filmmaker mounting his comeback and offers the lead in the project to Nora who is an actress, when she turns him down he turns his attention to American movie star Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning, also absolutely terrific) as the film is mounted Nora and Agnes have to reckon with there father, the past and the family home that shaped them. Sentimental Value is about as close to perfect as modern cinema gets, a funny and thoughtful dramedy about the ties that bind and how those relationships and the environment in which those relationships are cultivated shape u...

Sarah’s Oil is the kind of film that is shockingly hard to review, in that it’s very bad and yet so bland and inoffensive that even trying to muster enough enthusiasm to even treat it like a real movie and not like the glorified late 90s tone deaf hallmark tv movie slop that it is feels like a waste of my time and quite frankly yours. The film tells the true story of Sarah Rector (Naya Desir-Johnson, who gives a performance so gratingly saccharine and aww shucks even Shirley Temple at her most precocious would tell her to tone it down) a young black girl in Early 1900s Oklahoma who discovers through the magic of jesus that her family’s inherited land has oil on it catching the eye of a slick and violent oil baron, what is sarah to do well bring in slick hustler Bertram Smith (Zachary Levi in only his second most punchable performance of 2025) who agrees to be her business partner and is taught tolerance by this plucky kid. Let’s just cut to the chase even in 1997 Sarah’s Oil would feel...

Nuremberg is a perfect example of a complimentary usage of the term “great film to show in a high school history class”, this is an old fashioned ensemble historical drama with a genuine sense of classical filmmaking and a genuinely great screenplay with thoughtful psychological depth. The film centers around the trial of Nuremberg, a trial held in 1946 to decide the fate of Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe in an excellent performance), Adolf Hitler’s second in command (along with a few other nazis) and is seen essentially as a formality for him to tell the world of the nazis atrocities before he is inevitably executed, all of this is told through the eyes of psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek, also terrific) who is meant to examine Hermann and the other prisoners. Nuremberg is a great example of a great story well told with no unnecessary flash or showing off, just solid filmmaking, great writing and excellent acting used for the purpose of telling a story that sadly remains relevan...

Die My Love is a haunting and uncompromising journey into the dark side of motherhood. The film centers on young couple Grace & Jackson (Jennifer Lawrence And Robert Pattinson) who move into Jackson’s uncle’s old country house and are seemingly in hyper sexual, young love bliss, however after Grace gives birth to their first child things take a turn as postpartum depression grips Grace and Jackson pulls away leading to very dark consequences. Die My Love is an incredible, uncompromising and provocative film in a way that could only come from the great Lynne Ramsay. Pattinson is great, Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte are also strong, but this is Lawrence’s film through and through and she gives everything including her own body into this portrait of a young mother in freefall. It’s a brave and incredible performance from a true modern movie star. Her work and Ramsay’s incredible skills as an artist cut like a knife delivering a truly powerful film that casts a haunting spell that will s...

 Predator: Badlands is the weakest of the three Predator films by Dan Trachtenberg, but being the weakest of a trilogy that includes one excellent film and one truly terrific one still equals to pretty good. The film follows Dek, a young Predator who after being rescued at great sacrifice by his brother finds himself on a planet where all the flora and fauna are trying to kill him, teaming up with a deeply damaged but wisecracking Weyland-Yutani android named Thia (Elle Fanning, this film’s stealth secret weapon) the pair attempt to help each other as they hunt for a creature that could get Dek his cloak and his honor back and as for Thia well she is missing her bottom half so it would be nice to get that back and so the adventure begins. Predator: Badlands aspires to no greater purpose than pure entertainment and on that basis it works super well. It lacks the depth of character and storytelling innovation of Prey and Killer Of Killers but makes up for it in classic 80s throwback ...

 Violent Ends is a southern fried revenge tale that travels a familiar road but the journey is worthwhile. The film centers on Lucas Frost, the good son in a splintered crime family living in Arkansas in 1992, when his star crossed romance with a sweet bank teller is cut short by a violent act by someone close to home Lucas is forced into the violent lifestyle of his family to seek revenge. Violent Ends is a very derivative film but what elevates it considerably is an incredible sense of place and an excellent lead performance from Billy Magnussen. Ultimately Violent Ends doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it tricks it out just enough to justify traveling this southern revenge road again.  I Give It 4 1/2 Stars!!!

Note: Both films reviewed below were released as a double bill they are being reviewed accordingly.  Vincent Must Die is a film with a great unique first act and a spectacular concept that eventually becomes a more standard horror/romance but the later stretches are still compelling enough to make the film worthwhile. The film centers on a graphic designer who discovers one day inexplicably everyone he makes eye contact with tries to violently murder him, eventually meeting others like him and sparking a connection with a troubled waitress, their burgeoning romance is complicated by the fact he can’t look at her. Vincent Must Die isn’t a perfect film, it can feel like a bit of a missed opportunity to really explore its unique scenario and the english dub (this is a french film) which used AI to help with ADR synching is unnecessary, i overall am still gonna recommend Vincent Must Die for its strong combination of jet black humor and art house sincerity. I Give It 4 1/2 Stars!!!...