Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande put enormous passion into the second act of Wicked, but surrounding them is a cavalcade of foisted fan service, delineated themes, awkward filmmaking, sexist connotations, shallow priorities, and underwhelming songs. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/11/bright…

With monopolistic efforts by Paramount under the auspices of Trump lackeys to buy out Warner Bros., the potential for state censorship and propaganda in American media has never been nearer. Why this should be worrying to all of us. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-di…

The last of the original run of Peanuts movies, Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown sets a handful of the strip's characters down in Europe and has some fun with that conceit, but other than the gimmick and an ultimately hollow mystery there isn't much to it. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/11/charli…

Come for the Charlie Chaplin-Buster Keaton collab, stay for the moving meditation on love and art and being passed over by time. Limelight is a beautiful late-career turn from Chaplin, as exuberant as it is melancholy. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/11/back-t…

A movie designed to present to Americans a distinctly Japanese institution with scrutiny but grace, Rental Family is a charming piece about the value in emotional connections spanning cultures and their practices. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/rental…

Despite starring a venomous snake, Zootopia 2 is largely defanged, with a more generic impression of its social metaphor, a confused attitude towards its central relationship, and a lack of new narrative ambition. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/zootop…

A curious new marker of the Korean cultural wave, KPop Demon Hunters is an enjoyable movie, with an eccentric premise (though formula narrative) upheld by an interesting character arc, strong musical integration and fun and inventive animation. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/kpop-d…

A somewhat empathetic but curious, pitiable look at the world of young upper class New York socialites, Whit Stillman's Metropolitan is a fascinating image of a lifestyle in decline as it engages in witty dialogue and amusing romantic entanglements. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-cr…

A film of sombre reflection on the consequences and legacy of celebrity imbued with authenticity and rich vulnerability from George Clooney, Noah Baumbach's Jay Kelly is an excellent honest meditation on life and art, and the relationships informed by each reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/an-ope…

Joachim Trier's deeply moving and honest Sentimental Value is a tender, measured and bittersweet drama of a complex family dynamic, illuminated by breathtaking performances from Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/sentim…

A fun rom-com premise within a funny afterlife conceit, Eternity is broadly enjoyable and spontaneous, though hits some critical snags in its last act through some awkward structure and indecisive handling of core themes. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/til-de…

Carl Reiner gave Rob Reiner a copy of The Princess Bride, and Rob Reiner loved it and its father/son love story so much he turned it into a movie (with a grandfather and grandson). Three days before Carl’s death in 2020, he and Rob reenacted the final scene and “As you wish”

Drawn heavily from the style of 70s crime thrillers of the French and American variety, Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind is a compelling character study of an aimless rebel against a consequential backdrop. A tour de force of subtlety from Josh O'Connor reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-plea…

James L Brooks's return to filmmaking after 15 years is sadly an utter misfire. A political movie terrified of expressing politics, its awkward, convoluted script peppered with weak jokes, hollow sentiment and baffling disconnected subplots is a trainwreck reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/ella-m…

Significantly more plot-heavy, narratively repetitive, and conceptually less ambitious, Avatar: Fire and Ash is James Cameron's Return of the Jedi, but nonetheless compelling enough on its themes, visuals, and characters. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/avatar…

Trashy and twisty, The Housemaid is broadly conventional and predictable, blunt and awkward in some of the writing, and dimly directed by Paul Feig. But its sensationalism sometimes works in its favour, as does Amanda Seyfried's fun, eccentric performance. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-ch…

Directed with beautiful naturalism by Chloe Zhao, Hamnet is a film of immense emotional sincerity. A stirring and sensational piece of Shakespearean speculation sustained on the rich performances of Paul Mescal and an astounding Jessie Buckley. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-heal…

Set around Recife, Brazil in 1977, Kleber Mendoça Filho's aesthetically retro and captivating political thriller The Secret Agent explores vividly the stifling pervasiveness of the military dictatorship from the vantage of a cool but cautious Wagner Moura. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/an-abs…

A fantasy movie hit in its day, now all but forgotten by mainstream pop culture, what is the legacy of Disney's inaugural Narnia film on its twentieth anniversary? Was it an overstated flash-in-the-pan or is it a genuine fantasy film classic? reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/what-i…

A rock solid comedy premise undercut by a refusal to engage with the realities of class, wealth, and race that it aims to satirize. Occasionally charming and funny in its zany, screwball sensibility, yet says ultimately nothing about economic inequality. reviewsofthebosch.blogspot.com/2025/12/back-t…