Is ‘Sacramento’ a Treat?

April 18, 2025

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The Sacramento boys (CREDIT: Vertical)

Starring: Michael Angarano, Michael Cera, Maya Erskine, Kristen Stewart, AJ Mendez, Iman Karram, Rosalind Chao

Director: Michael Angarano

Running Time: 84 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: April 11, 2025 (Theaters)

Whenever I think about the capital of California, my mind inevitably goes to that episode of Full House when Joey is a substitute teacher for Michelle’s class, and during a geography lesson, he says, “starts with Sac and ends with ramento.” So now you know where my head was at while I was watching a movie called Sacramento directed by Michael Angarano and also starring Angarano and other people now in their 30s who have been entertaining us since they were kids.

So now the question of course is: would I ever like to visit Sacramento? It’s an especially pressing matter, considering that the hook of this movie is that Angarano plays a guy who tricks an old friend (Michael Cera) into a road trip to Sac-Town. He says he’s going there to spread his dad’s ashes, but really he’s working up the courage to visit an old hookup (played by Angarano’s real-life wife Maya Erskine) for the first time since she gave birth to their kid. As far as I can tell from the evidence provided, there’s nothing particularly flashy about the titular city, especially compared to its in-state competition. But it does appear to provide decent space for chillaxing and coming to grips with your hangups, so this was a worthwhile trip in that regard.

Grade: 3 Babies out of 5 Daddies

‘Sinners’ is a Hell of a Time at the Movies

April 16, 2025

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Sinners! (CREDIT: Warner Bros./Screenshot)

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Jack O’Connell, Jayme Lawson, Delroy Lindo, Omar Benson Miller, Li Jun Li, Yao, Lola Kirke, Helena Hu, Peter Dreimanis, Saul Williams, Andrene Ward-Hammond, David Maldonado, Buddy Guy

Director: Ryan Coogler

Running Time: 137 Minutes

Rating: R for Guns, Nightlife Vices, and Supernatural Mayhem

Release Date: April 18, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: The boys are back in town! Those boys in question are twin brothers Smoke (Michael B. Jordan) and Stack (also Jordan), while the town is in rural 1930s Mississippi. They were previously sojourning in Chicago, but now they’ve returned with millions in hand (quite possibly attained through criminal pursuits) and plans to open the hoppingest juke joint in town. Joining them in this venture are their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), a budding blues guitarist virtuoso; Smoke’s old flame Annie (Wunmi Mosaku); Stack’s old flame Mary (Hailee Steinfeld); and seemingly everyone else they grew up with. Their dream quickly comes together, but lurking just outside are a few party crashers with a thirst for blood who are here to ensure that opening night will be even more unforgettable than anybody bargained for.

What Made an Impression?: Get Yourself Excited: A quick note before I really dig into the meat of this review: you all should know that I say this movie’s title with the same cadence that Superintendent Mario Chalmers refers to Principal Seymour Skinner on The Simpsons. (It’s also how I say the last name of a certain Italian tennis player.) That didn’t really affect my enjoyment one way or the other, but I do like to be transparent.
The Bloodiest Good Time: I’ll just go right ahead and get this off my chest: Sinners might just be my favorite vampire movie of all time! That’s not a huge huge surprise, as I’m not a major aficionado of Dracula and the like, so the bar wasn’t particularly high. But there are still plenty of fine examples that now must give up the throne. Perhaps you’re surprised to hear this, considering that the trailers play a little coy with the premise’s true nature. But that patient approach in which writer-director Ryan Coogler waits a little while to show off his full hand is a big reason why it’s so successful.
A Sense of Time and Place: Sinners nails every temptation that’s so tantalizingly cool about its era, but in a way that also makes you realize that America is and also has been like this. The outfits and diction might change, but working folks and the discriminated classes have always been trying to scheme and break free and find their families. There’s a lot more to what makes Sinners cook than that, but that’s a good starting point to let you know why it’s so exhilarating.
Play It Again: There’s a magnificent set piece about halfway through in which Sammie’s singing and strumming is so magical that it summons the spirits of multi-genre past and future musicians into the party. (That power is a big reason why those supernatural baddies have found their way here.) Speaking of music, the rest of the film is soundtracked by frequent Coogler collaborator Ludwig Göransson, who blends an intoxicating stew that both honors and transcends its Delta trappings.
It’s a Beaut!: Sinners‘ cinematographer is Autumn Durald Arkapaw, a name I’m not too familiar with, although she did shoot the second Black Panther and a few other flicks I’ve seen. But man oh man, she outdid herself here. Every frame just pops off the screen and irons itself into your brainstem. I’m sure costume designer Ruth E. Carter (another Coogler regular) appreciated the fine lens work, since it made it undeniably clear how her duds were in no way duds.
Get Comfy: Don’t bolt out of your seat after the credits start rolling, because there’s more to come! If Marvel blockbusters have you feeling cynical about mid-credits and post-credits scenes, well, forget all that, because Sinners offers a couple of codas that deliver a few new flavors while deepening everything that it’s all about.

Sinners is Recommended If You Like: Only Lovers Left Alive, the American blues songbook, BlacKkKlansman

Grade: 5 out of 5 Smokestacks

‘The Shrouds’ Review: What Happens When David Cronenberg Takes Us Six Feet Under

April 15, 2025

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Til death do they part? (CREDIT: Sideshow and Janus Films)

Starring: Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, Sandrine Holt

Director: David Cronenberg

Running Time: 119 Minutes

Rating: R for Sex and Nudity in Both the Here and Now and the Beyond, and a Little Bit of Violence

Release Date: April 18, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Have you ever wanted to peek at your dead loved ones while they’re resting underground? Well, if you lived in the world of The Shrouds, you’d be in luck! That’s because this is a movie about a businessman named Karsh Relikh (Vincent Cassel) who has invented GraveTech, which allows people to keep an eye on the decaying corpses of their dearly departed. This mission is pretty personal for him, considering his desire to be buried alongside his late wife Becca (Diane Kruger) following her untimely death from cancer. But his focus on the hereafter might be keeping him blind to the strange developments on this earthly plane, as he finds himself getting dangerously closer to Becca’s sister Terry (also Kruger) while his brother-in-law Maury (Guy Pearce) rants and raves about some sort of conspiracy.

What Made an Impression?: The Cronenberg of It All: The Shrouds is more psychological horror than body horror, or rather, I should say, that ratio leans more psychological than usual by David Cronenberg Standards. There’s definitely plenty of corporeal shenanigans, though, particularly when Karsh keeps seeing a vision of a gradually more and more surgically reduced Becca.
Guy Pearces a Bullseye: Maury is one of those characters that makes you go, “Should we just ignore this guy, or should we instead be listening very closely to every single thing that he says?” Pearce understands the assignment and is compellingly confusing.
Why, Why, Why?: Is GraveTech a good idea? Cronenberg certainly doesn’t seem to be endorsing it. And based on what we can glean from Karsh’s experience, I can’t say I recommend it. But maybe there’s a way to handle this breakthrough more sensitively? I don’t think it has to make your day-to-day so woozy and surreal. We all grieve in our own ways.
Losing the Plot: The action is driven by an act of vandalism at the GraveTech graves and an attempt to locate the guilty parties. But I got the feeling that Karsh and by extension Cronenberg weren’t really all that interested in finding the answer to that question. Instead, The Shrouds is much more concerned about the director’s continued interest in reflecting upon what happens when we give our bodies and minds over to emerging technologies.
It’s Complicated: In conclusion, if you hear the hook of GraveTech and wonder, “How will this make everyone’s relationships messier?”, then The Shrouds has been designed to cater to you.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Corpses

‘The Luckiest Man in America’ Spreads His Winnings to All of Us

April 14, 2025

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The Face of Luck (CREDIT: IFC Films)

Starring: Paul Walter Hauser, Walton Goggins, David Straithairn, Brian Geraghty, Patti Harrison, Maisie Williams, Shamier Anderson, Haley Bennett, Damian Young, Lilli Kay, James Wolk, Shaunette Renée Wilson, David Rysdahl, Ricky Russert, Johnny Knoxville

Director: Samir Oliveros

Running Time: 90 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: April 4, 2025 (Theaters)

Are ya feeling lucky? Well if you’re watching The Luckiest Man in America, you should be! It tells the story of Michael Larson, the air conditioner repairman and ice cream truck driver who broke the bank when he cracked the pattern on the seemingly random game show Press Your Luck in 1984. In the process, he earned what was at the time the highest single-day winning total on a game show. He’s played by Paul Walter Hauser, who was seemingly made in a lab to bring this sort of huckster to life. Walton Goggins is also pretty damn unforgettable as PYL host Peter Tomarken. The whole cast is unbelievably stacked, in fact. (Even a certain jackass shows up at one point.) By the time the credits roll, you’ll be thinking, “I’m the luckiest person in the movie theater!”

Grade: Absolutely NO Whammies!

It’s Time to Accept a Message Request From ‘Drop’

April 10, 2025

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They certainly dropped Drop like it’s hot (CREDIT: Universal Pictures)

Starring: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Reed Diamond, Gabrielle Ryan Spring, Jeffery Self, Ed Weeks, Travis Nelson

Director: Christopher Landon

Running Time: 95 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Chekhov’s Poison (and Gun and Knife) and Flashbacks of Abuse

Release Date: April 11, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Widowed mother Violet (Meghann Fahy) is finally ready to start dating again a few years after the dissolution of her abusive marriage. So she calls up her sister Jen (Violett Beane) to babysit her 5-year-old son Toby (Jacob Robinson) so that she can finally meet up with Henry (Brandon Sklenar), the hunky, sensitive photographer that she’s been messaging with. They settle in for dinner at a fancy high-rise spot, and the vibes are totally right… until someone starts anonymously sending Violet messages demanding that she kill Henry if she doesn’t want her son to die instead. As she desperately seeks an escape from this entrapment, she starts playing detective to identify the criminal puppetmaster: could it be the seemingly sweet bartender (Gabrielle Ryan Spring), the older gentleman getting back out there on a blind date (Reed Diamond), the totally extra waiter (Jeffery Self), the skeevy piano player (Ed Weeks), the rando she keeps bumping into (Travis Nelson), or maybe even one of the teenagers on a post-prom excursion?

What Made an Impression?: It’s So Much Fun Watching Someone in Danger!: Drop is the sort of propulsive, dread-inducing thriller that never lets up long enough for you to get hung up on how much it strains credulity. Although, now that I’ve watched it and I’m writing my review, I’m more than happy to raise some questions! Most pressingly, does the AirDrop feature really allow you to be this intrusive into someone who’s not in your contacts? I’ve never been an iPhone user, although to be fair to Drop, Violet’s tormentor is actually using an AirDrop stand-in called “DigiDrop.” I could go on to nitpick even further, but here’s the thing: I didn’t care about any of that! This movie establishes its rules of play and never cheats, so its twists and zooms feel earned, no matter how ridiculous they may be rendered upon forensic examination.
Escaping the Grip of the Past: As Violet constantly flits around and makes odd requests to the waitstaff, Henry can’t help but assume that she really isn’t quite yet in the right frame of mind for romance. He suggests that they try this another time, but since she really needs him to say, she tries the gambit of explaining that she’s been distracted because her abusive ex still has her in her grip. It may not be the immediate reason that her mind is elsewhere, but it’s not like it’s not true. What follows is a genuine, thoughtful conversation about how abuse warps our sense of reality. I wasn’t expecting Drop to be so astutely therapeutic, but I certainly appreciate it. It all adds up to a simple trick for effective storytelling: clearly establish your main characters’ backstories, and then treat their psychology with respect.

Drop is Recommended If You Like: Red Eye probably (I’ve never seen it in its entirety, but based on chatter I’ve heard, the comparison fits), Hitchcock thrillers about protagonists who suddenly find themselves in over their heads (Rear Window, North by Northwest, etc.), The Invisible Man

Grade: 4 out of 5 Threats

‘One to One: John & Yoko’ Captures a Moment

April 9, 2025

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Documentary for the Benefit of John & Yoko (CREDIT: Magnolia Pictures)

Starring: John Lennon, Yoko Ono

Directors: Kevin MacDonald and Sam Rice-Edwards

Running Time: 100 Minutes

Rating: R for Graphic Non-Sexual Nudity and Some Drug Use

Release Date: April 11, 2025 (IMAX Theaters)

What’s It About?: In August 1972, John Lennon and Yoko Ono performed the “One to One” concert at the world-famous Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was a benefit show for the Willowbrook institution for children with intellectual disabilities, which was notorious for its inhumane conditions. The documentary One to One: John & Yoko tracks the buildup to that show, while also painting a portrait of the couple’s stay in a Greenwich apartment, which they lived in for 18 months from 1971 to 1973. During that time, when they weren’t preparing for the show, the musical couple liked to stay in bed and watch a lot of TV, while also advocating for the freedom of activist John Sinclair, among other activities.

What Made an Impression?: A Reality-Altering Adventure: One to One does not unfold strictly linearly, both in terms of chronology and geometry. Instead, it bounces around from fragment to fragment, often with scratches of static to mark the transitions. In other words, it operates much like human memory, or at least my human memory. No worries if your mind is a little chaotic, though. If you’re someone who’s been alive in the modern world during any of the last several decades, I suspect that you’ll still be able to intuit directors Kevin MacDonald and Sam Rice-Edwards’ style of mediation within mediation pretty naturally, even if doesn’t follow the typical syntax of documentary cinema language.
A Peek Inside: With its mix of archival TV clips and behind-the-scenes footage, One to One also aims to capture the fleeting essence of what it was like to live as John and Yoko during this era. Perhaps the mind-bending style sounds a little too niche or maybe even off-putting to you. But if you have any affection for these people, you’ll surely find yourself touched by the access and vulnerability. And thankfully it doesn’t feel invasive, but instead like a gift to the world of a little piece of their souls.

One to One: John & Yoko is Recommended If You Like: Experimental documentaries, Intimate documentaries, 1970s talk shows

Grade: 4 out of 5 Benefit Concerts

I Encountered ‘Snow White’ and ‘A Minecraft Movie’: What Comes Next?

April 8, 2025

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When it Snows, it blocks (CREDIT: Disney/Screenshot; Warner Bros./Screenshot)

Snow White

Starring: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap, Ansu Kabia, Patrick Page, Jeremy Swift, Tituss Burgess, Andrew Barth Feldman, Martin Klebba, Jason Kravits, George Salazar, Andy Grotelueschen

Director: Marc Webb

Running Time: 109 Minutes

Rating: PG

Release Date: March 21, 2025 (Theaters)

A Minecraft Movie

Starring: Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Sebastian Hansen, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Coolidge, Rachel House, Jemaine Clement, Jared Hess

Director: Jared Hess

Running Time: 101 Minutes

Rating: PG

Release Date: April 4, 2025 (Theaters)

A few days ago, I saw Snow White (the version where Rachel Zegler plays the Friend of Grumpy). Then the very next day, I saw A Minecraft Movie (the one released in 2025, in case you’re reading this in the future). And I couldn’t help but ask myself: would I like to live in either of these magical realms?

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‘Hell of a Summer’ is a Low-Key Doodle of a Slasher

April 3, 2025

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What the hell (of a summer)?! (CREDIT: NEON)

Starring: Fred Hechinger, Abby Quinn, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Billy Bryk, Finn Wolfhard, Pardis Saremi, Krista Nazaire, Matthew Finlan, Julia LaLonde, Daniel Gravelle, Julia Doyle, Rosebud Baker, Adam Pally

Directors: Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk

Running Time: 88 Minutes

Rating: R for Bloody Shenanigans and a Conversation About Getting Busy During a Movie

Release Date: April 4, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Veteran Pineway Camp counselor Jason (Fred Hechinger) had an embarrassingly tearful goodbye at the end of last summer, which he thought was going to be his last at Pineway. And it probably should have been. He is aging out of the gig, after all, and it doesn’t exactly pay like a full-time job. But the owners needed the extra help this year, or at least that’s what he keeps saying. But he really should’ve reconsidered, considering that … there’s a serial killer on the loose! Will Jason turn hero and save all his fellow counselors, or will everyone just die sad, unremarkably gruesome deaths?

What Made an Impression?: Two-for-One Deal: Hell of a Summer is written and directed by a pair of youngsters (Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk, who both also star), but despite their youth, they’ve assembled a throwback to the slashers of yore, particularly two that loom menacingly large over the rest of the genre. You’ve got the camp setting and ugly relentlessness of Friday the 13th, but with a little bit more personality than Jason Voorhees’ adventures. That’s crossed with the Scream-style setup of friends playing detective against each other, except that in this case most of them are a little dopier and a lot more superficial than Woodsboro’s residents. They’re not so infuriating that you’re begging for them to get sliced up, but you might just want them to go through some terrible trauma so that they’ll actually grow up.
Where is Everyone?: There’s one big unanswered question throughout Hell of a Summer: where are all the kids?! Or is this just an “Oops All Counselors” type of amp? Now, of course, the most likely answer is that the young attendees are scheduled to arrive at least one day after all the counselors, so they’re not supposed to be there at this point anyway. But the counselors never seem to behave as if anyone else is on the way! To be fair, that isn’t exactly unbelievable behavior from teenagers and young twentysomethings, but I nevertheless couldn’t help but be deeply affected by the lack of explanatory context.

Hell of a Summer is Recommended If You: Wish that Wet Hot American Summer had fewer laughs and more blood

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Decapitations

‘Screamboat’ Review, or: Whistle While You Kill

April 1, 2025

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Typical ferry ride? (CREDIT: Iconic Events Releasing)

Starring: David Howard Thornton, Allison Pittel, Amy Schumacher, Jesse Posey, Rumi C. Jean-Louis, Kailey Hyman, Jesse Kove, Jarlath Conroy, Charles Edwin Powell

Director: Steven LaMorte

Running Time: 102 Minutes

Rating: Unrated, But There is SO Much Blood and Guts

Release Date: April 2, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: It’s time for an evening ride on the Staten Island Ferry! The passengers include a mother and son just trying to get home, a recent Midwestern transplant doing her best to make it in the Big Apple, a crew member trying to prove himself, a wise and reliable EMT, and an outrageously ditzy drunk birthday girlfriend crew. Oh, and also … A MOUSE WITH AN INSATIABLE THIRST FOR BLOOD! You might know Steamboat Willie as the adorably booty-shaking original version of Mickey Mouse, but now that nearly hundred years have passed and Willie is in the public domain, shamelessly over-the-top parodies like Screamboat are legal. So you might want to reconsider that trip across the Hudson. Sure, it’s free, but chances are high that you’ll get hacked to bits by a knife-wielding rodent.

What Made an Impression?: An Imp for All Times: Turning beloved children’s characters into slasher villains once they enter the public domain might be a decent premise for a short sketch, but an entire movie? It didn’t exactly work out for Winnie the Pooh, that’s for sure. But Screamboat justifies itself by actually putting in a commendable amount of effort. It helps more than anything else that Willie is played by David Howard Thornton, aka Art the Clown from the Terrifier series. His Willie hits all the same notes as Art, which is to say: an adorably expressive mime who learns about the world by discovering how much he loves to kill everyone in it. The Staten Island Ferry may be a cruel hellhole, but you can share in Willie’s unbound glee by reminding yourself that all the actors who played his victims are still alive.
As Bloody Disgusting As They Want to Be: The m.o. of Screamboat is essentially, “We’ve got all these gallons of fake blood and prosthetic body parts lying around, we might as well use them for something!” The plot is profoundly silly, the endless violence is tiresome, and the vast majority of the characters are infuriating stereotypes. In conclusion, I was impressed by the thorough commitment to the bit. If movies like Screamboat are allowed to exist in their most fully realized forms, then that must mean that Earth is doing at least a little bit okay.

Screamboat is Recommended If You: Are a Proud Degenerate

Grade: 3 out of 5 Sailor Caps

‘The Woman in the Yard’ Offers a Grave Message

March 28, 2025

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Wait a minute, I’m counting TWO women in the yard (CREDIT: Daniel Delgado Jr./Universal Pictures)

Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, Okwui Okpokwasili, Peyton Jackson, Estella Kahiha, Russell Hornsby

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Running Time: 87 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for General Unease and Implications of Self-Harm

Release Date: March 28, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: A woman named Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler) has been living a suffocatingly isolated life on her Georgia farmhouse along with her teenage son Taylor (Peyton Jackson) and young daughter Annie (Estella Kahiha) ever since her husband David (Russell Hornsby) died in a car accident. She’s been getting on crutches since the crash, which also seems to have sapped her will to live. On top of that, the power has been cut off in the house, and they have no idea when it will be coming back on, nor are there any neighbors anywhere nearby who could conceivably help. But then suddenly someone (Okwui Okpokwasili) does appear, although she seems to be more omen than person. Clad head to toe in a midnight black veil, she sits calmly and patiently in the backyard, offering Ramona vague explanations for her presence like “You called and I came” and “Today’s the day.”

What Made an Impression?: Mental States Are Open to Interpretation: The Woman in the Yard opts for a slow burn approach sure to inspire speculation, though its ultimate revelations aren’t exactly surprising. Considering the setup, the costume design, and the MPA rating explanation, it’s clear that the Woman is something like the Angel of Death and Ramona has thought about ending her own life. Is this all then leading up to an inevitable tragedy? Without giving too much away, I’ll note that what you see will depend on what kind of viewer you are. When modern technology is replaced with hallucinations and a touch of the supernatural, it’s only fair to question what’s real and what’s not.
A Peek Inside: If you appreciated the Oscar-winning The Father‘s inside-out approach to dementia and have been hoping for more movies to pull off something similar with other complicated mental states, The Woman in the Yard has you covered. We’re caught in Ramona’s depressed mind: fractured, untethered from reality, unable to explain why she’s making harmful decisions. This isn’t a relentless horror thrill ride, but rather an invitation to be still like its titular harbinger. I can already feel it burrowing deep for permanent residency within my subconscious. Could this be a formula for spreading understanding to help someone in crisis? We can certainly hope so.

The Woman in the Yard is Recommended If You Like: Family therapy, Telling your kids ghost stories, Penmanship

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Veils

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