May 13, 2026
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Anne Hathaway, B.J. Novak, Caleb Hearon, David Frankel, Emily Blunt, George C. Wolfe, Helen J. Shen, Justin Theroux, Kenneth Branagh, Larry Mitchell, Lucy Liu, Meryl Streep, Patrick Brammall, Pauline Chalamet, Rachel Bloom, Simone Ashley, Stanley Tucci, The Devil Wears Prada, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Tibor Feldman, Tracie Thoms
Is this the Devil that Mötley Crüe was shouting at? (CREDIT:
20th Century Studios/Screenshot)
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, Justin Theroux, Kenneth Branagh, Lucy Liu, B.J. Novak, Simone Ashley, Tracie Thoms, Tibor Feldman, Patrick Brammall, Caleb Hearon, Helen J. Shen, Rachel Bloom, Larry Mitchell, George C. Wolfe, Pauline Chalamet
Director: David Frankel
Running Time: 119 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: May 1, 2026 (Theaters)
Easily the most surprising moment for me while watching The Devil Wears Prada 2 came during the end credits when accomplished professional golfer Rory McIlroy and his wife Erica were credited as playing themselves. And yet my mom and I had not noticed them during the actual movie, despite both of us closely following his recent major victories. We figured they must have been at Miranda’s party at the Hamptons, which was positively bursting with oddball cameos. Which brings me to an important question I couldn’t help but ask myself: would I ever like to attend a Hamptons soiree myself like that?
I cannot imagine I would exactly enjoy the drive over, and it’s not like Runway can afford to loan everyone on the guest list a personal helicopter anymore these days, what with the modern state of legacy journalism being what it is and all (that’s the message of the film). Although if I were in the passenger seat, I would of course appreciate being able to get plenty of reading done. But the unpredictable assemblage of guests would probably make my brain melt from the random discombobulation of it all. I guess that’s a commentary on what Life is Like Right Now.
Thank you for coming to my hyper-specific review of The Devil Wears Prada 2!
Grade: 2 Lipas out of 3 Gagas
April 30, 2026
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Alba Baptista, Anne Hathaway, Atheena Frizzell, Billie Roy, David Lowery, FKA Twigs, Hayat Kamille, Hunter Schafer, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Jack Reynor, Jason Segel, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jorma Taccone, Juliette Lewis, Kaia Gerber, Keith Jardine, Laia Costa, Lee Cronin, Lee Cronin's The Mummy, May Calamawy, May Elghety, Michaela Coel, Mother Mary, Natalie Grace, Over Your Dead Body, Paul Guilfoyle, Samara Weaving, Shylo Molina, Sian Clifford, Timothy Olyphant, Verónica Falcón
Dead Bodies are OVER! (CREDIT: Independent Film Company)
Over Your Dead Body
Starring: Jason Segel, Samara Weaving, Paul Guilfoyle, Keith Jardine, Timothy Olyphant, Juliette Lewis
Director: Jorma Taccone
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: April 24, 2026 (Theaters)
Mother Mary
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, FKA Twigs, Atheena Frizzell, Kaia Gerber, Jessica Brown Findlay, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Alba Baptista, Sian Clifford
Director: David Lowery
Running Time: 112 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: April 17, 2026 (Theaters)
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy
Starring: Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, Natalie Grace, May Calamawy, Shylo Molina, Billie Roy, Verónica Falcón, Hayat Kamille, May Elghety
Director: Lee Cronin
Running Time: 134 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: April 10, 2026 (Theaters)
I recently had the pleasure of seeing three different movies that all had me sputtering “What the heck is going on?” to varying degrees and to varying ends. Specifically, I’m talking about the deadly black comedy Over Your Dead Body, the pop star phantasmagoria Mother Mary, and a monstrous reimagining in the form of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy.
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June 12, 2024
jmunney
Cinema
Adria Arjona, Amy Winehouse, Anne Hathaway, Annie Mumolo, Austin Amelio, Back to Black, Eddie Marsan, Ella Rubin, Ema Horvath, Evan Holtzman, Freya Allen, Froy Gutierrez, Gabriel Basso, Glen Powell, Hit Man, Jack O'Connell, Juliet Cowan, Kevin Durand, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Lesley Manville, Lydia Peckham, Madelaine Petsch, Marisa Abela, Michael Showalter, Nicholas Galitzine, Owen Teague, Perry Mattfeld, Peter Macon, Reid Scott, Renny Harlin, Retta, Richard Linklater, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Sanjay Rao, The Idea of You, The Strangers, The Strangers: Chapter 1, Wes Ball, William H Macy
CREDIT: Amazon Prime Video
There are a handful of movies I saw in May that I haven’t shared any extended thoughts about yet, so here’s a Spring Cleaning-themed review roundup. Typically May is considered part of the summer movie season, but that leaves short shrift to the time of year when it actually is spring. If May 1-Labor Day is Summer Movie Season, and October-December is Fall Movie Season, and Thanksgiving-New Year’s is Holiday Movie Season, and January-February is Awards Holdovers/Winter Dumping Ground Season, well then, we really only March and April for Spring Movie Season, and a good chunk of March is spent fretting about the Oscars! So let’s give some love to the month with the best weather of the year (apologies to those of you with vernal allergies) and check in on the May spring movies.
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November 30, 2023
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Anne Hathaway, Eileen, Marin Ireland, Owen Teague, Shea Wigham, Thomasin McKenzie, William Oldroyd
Come on, Eileen! (CREDIT: NEON)
Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anne Hathaway, Shea Wigham, Marin Ireland, Owen Teague
Director: William Oldroyd
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Rating: R for Masshole Behavior and a Sudden Violent Turn
Release Date: December 1, 2023 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Eileen Dunlop (Thomasin McKenzie) has a real going-nowhere job as a secretary at a juvenile prison in 1960s coastal Massachusetts. She lives with her alcoholic widowed father, Jim (Shea Wigham), who mostly berates her for not measuring up to her married sister. But her world is suddenly opened up by an exponential order of magnitude when she befriends the prison’s new resident psychologist, Rebecca (Anne Hathaway). There’s an undeniable frisson of romance as well, but Eileen is so enthralled by Rebecca mainly because she’s never encountered anyone so cosmopolitan. Their connection is deep and genuine, but a much darker story is lurking in plain sight
What Made an Impression?: Breaking Free: In the likes of Leave No Trace, Jojo Rabbit, Last Night in Soho, and well, pretty much everything she’s had a starring role in, Thomasin McKenzie has specialized in playing the most delicate of delicate creatures. And Eileen sure looks like she’s just the latest scarred entrant in this distinguished lineup. But she quickly demonstrates that she’s much more complicated than a standard-issue shrinking violet. Her self-assuredness was actually there all along, or at least it was present by the time that we meet her. She just needed the right spark to be set off.
Sapphic Thrills: What a joy it is to luxuriate in endlessly seductive dialogue! While it’s abundantly clear in their conversations just how smitten Eileen is with Rebecca, there’s also a hint that she’s somewhere in the middle of the Kinsey scale, as we also see her fantasizing about a male co-worker. So her romantic struggles thus far haven’t been for lack of bodies, but for want of wit and philosophy. Rebecca is just the right amount of individualistic and unapologetic to activate the same in Eileen. And the dialogue as a whole is just wonderfully ferocious throughout, coming courtesy of co-writers Luke Goebel and Ottessa Moshfegh (the latter of whom is adapting her own novel).
Here Comes the Twist: On Christmas Eve, Rebecca unexpectedly invites Eileen over for the evening. And she eagerly accepts. After all, her next best option is looking over her dad while his liver wastes away. At this point in the story, I was all ready for the two ladies to just toast to the baby Jesus as the credits roll, or maybe, if they’re feeling dangerous, to drive away together to somewhere that their love will be accepted. But then something much more unpredictable happens. I won’t say anything anymore, and honestly I’m worried I may have already said too much. But this was the moment for me that Eileen went from perfectly satisfying to astoundingly unforgettable. It might have been nice if the running time were 10 or 20 minutes longer to let this swerve breathe a little bit. Still, it’s a bracing and breathtaking conclusion to an unexpected thrill ride.
Eileen is Recommended If You Like: Carol, Lady MacBeth, Gone Girl
Grade: 4 out of 5 Martinis
October 24, 2022
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Andrew Polk, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins, Armageddon Time, Banks Repeta, James Gray, Jaylin Webb, Jeremy Strong, Ryan Sell, Tovah Feldshuh
Armageddon and his friend Time (CREDIT: Anne Joyce/Focus Features)
Starring: Banks Repeta, Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins, Jaylin Webb, Ryan Sell, Tovah Feldshuh, Andrew Polk
Director: James Gray
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Rating: R for Some Language, Corporal Punishment, and Pre-Teen Delinquency
Release Date: October 28, 2022 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Middle school is an awkward, frequently terrifying time for a lot of people. That’s especially true for budding artist Paul Graff (Banks Repeta) during his time in sixth grade in 1980 Queens at P.S. 173. He’s got the most hard-ass teacher in the world (Andrew Polk), although you get the sense that that was par for the course for the time period. His parents (Jeremy Strong and Anne Hathaway) want the best for him, but they don’t understand him and all their interactions are filled with constant, occasionally violent frustration. His older brother (Ryan Sell) isn’t too bad, though he is a run-of-the-mill pain in the butt.
Paul escapes all that angst occasionally with his best friend Johnny (Jaylin Webb). But that also leads into an even more troubled world since Johnny is the class troublemaker with a troubled home life, and Paul can’t even begin to fathom the racism Johnny experiences as a young black man, even though his family does clue him in on what his Jewish ancestors have had to endure. It doesn’t get much better for Paul when he transfers to a private school where one of the main benefactors is none other than Fred Trump (John Diehl). At least he has his wise and gentle grandfather Aaron (Anthony Hopkins) to turn to in times of (never-ending) crisis.
What Made an Impression?: I had a sneaking suspicion that Armageddon Time wasn’t going to have a happy ending. It is named “ARMAGEDDON Time,” after all. There may not be a nuclear war to wipe everybody out, even though Paul’s family is devastated by the election of Ronald Reagan. But after everything that Paul goes through over the course of this movie, he can be forgiven for thinking it’s just as bad. Not much is offered in the way of catharsis, though there is just a hint of hope. I found it all incredibly compelling, though I wasn’t exactly sure why that was while watching. I certainly enjoy a good coming-of-age yarn, but this one is a lot more unpleasant than most. I suspect it works as well as it does because it’s based on writer-director James Gray’s own childhood, and it feels like an honest reckoning. Everyone has a story worth telling, and when you’re as vibrant a storyteller as Gray is, I’m happy to see that story on the big screen.
Armageddon Time is Recommended If You Like: Dickensian bildungsromans
Grade: 4 out of 5 Rapper’s Delights
October 26, 2020
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Anne Hathaway, Chris Rock, Codie Lei-Eastick, Jahzir Kadeem Bruno, Kristen Chenoweth, Octavia Spencer, Roald Dahl, Robert Zemeckis, Stanley Tucci, The Witches, The Witches 2020
The Witches 2020 (CREDIT: Warner Bros./YouTube Screenshot)
Starring: Octavia Spencer, Anne Hathaway, Jahzir Kadeem Bruno, Stanley Tucci, Chris Rock, Codie Lei-Eastick, Kristen Chenoweth
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Rating: PG
Release Date: October 22, 2020 (HBO Max)
There’s one thing I really want to mention about the 2020 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. It’s something that caught me by surprise, and I was happy to have it. It wouldn’t have surprised me if I had seen the trailer ahead of time, but I still would have been delighted by it nonetheless. I’m talking about Chris Rock’s narration! I had no idea he was playing the older version of our hero (who’s named Hero). But oh yeah, I totally approve of the flavor that he added to the mix. And at the end when we got a glimpse of him in the flesh, I was thrilled to see what he’s up to now. The rest of the movie is mostly more-or-less standard kids adventure fare. I would have hoped for something a little weirder from Bob Zemeckis taking on Roald Dahl. Maybe I missed some hidden weirdness!
Grade: 5 Giant Chickens Out of 3 Mice
November 20, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Anne Hathaway, Bill Camp, Bill Pullman, Dark Waters, Louis Krause, Mare Winningham, Mark Ruffalo, Rob Bilott, Tim Robbins, Todd Haynes, Victor Garber, William Jackson Harper
CREDIT: Mary Cybulski/Focus Features
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, Bill Pullman, William Jackson Harper, Louis Krause
Director: Todd Haynes
Running Time: 126 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for The Effects of Chemical Poisoning
Release Date: November 22, 2019 (Limited)
The “little man takes on a big bad corporation” biopic subgenre is a resilient go-to for anyone in the mood for making muckraking and/or inspirational cinema. It’s also in turn a ripe target for parody, which might make some potential viewers skeptical about the filmmaking merits of something like Dark Waters in 2019. But those concerns should not be the biggest deal in the world when this movie is sending us the message that a company has released poison that is probably present in every currently alive being on the planet. And we can trust that this message will be delivered with conviction and persistence, as the main character is played by Mark Ruffalo, who embodies that sort of relentless energy both in his personal life and onscreen (especially in 2015’s Spotlight). So while some of the speechifying may be a little overwrought, it’s nice to be reminded that we all ought to treat our fellow human beings with dignity instead of following the demands of the almighty dollar.
The crux of the story turns on just that sort of crisis of conscience. Rob Bilott (Ruffalo) is an attorney who has just made partner at a Cincinnati law firm that specializes in representing companies in the energy industry. One of their clients is DuPont, and as Rob’s story gets started, he thinks he’s just helping DuPont assuage the concerns of a West Virginia farmer (Bill Camp) whose livestock has been dying off en masse in nasty fashion and believes that the chemical company is to blame. Instead, Rob discovers a systematic cover-up that has been killing off not just animals but almost an entire segment of human society. It takes a couple of decades to set things aright, and as we see, that is a profound burden for any one person to take on.
Rob’s wife Sarah is played by Anne Hathaway, and accordingly, I found myself wondering if Dark Waters is one of those movies in which a thoroughly qualified actress is relegated to just “The Wife.” I do wish that she had more to do, but not in the same way that I’m bothered when a titan of industry or a lunar explorer neglects his family. Rather, I wish that Rob would unburden himself and let the people in his life help him out a bit (Sarah is also an attorney after all, though we meet her as a stay-at-home mom). This film’s most pertinent storytelling technique is how it portrays the stress of singularly fighting a mammoth opponent. Rob develops a hand tremor that looks like it might be a symptom of Parkinson’s disease. It isn’t quite that serious, but it does convey the alarming possibilities of not allowing yourself to be supported. Let’s look out for each other, so that the Rob Bilotts of the world don’t have to pick up all the slack and nearly kill themselves in the process.
Dark Waters is Recommended If You Like: Conviction (2010), Spotlight, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Fluorocarbons
May 9, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Alex Sharp, Anne Hathaway, Chris Addison, Ingrid Oliver, Rebel Wilson, The Hustle
CREDIT: Christian Black/Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Rebel Wilson, Alex Sharp, Ingrid Oliver
Director: Chris Addison
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Crude Makeup Jobs and Exaggerated Appetites
Release Date: May 10, 2019
Successful movies about con artists pull cons on their audiences, and we thank them for it, because that is how they derive their entertainment value. So as someone on the hunt for entertainment value, it is my solemn duty to sadly report that The Hustle (a gender-flipped remake of 1988’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) struggles mightily to keep its viewers guessing. There are very few surprises along the way until the very end, and you’ll probably be able to surmise the big reveal if you’ve seen the original, or if you’re just savvy enough with the genre. So that leaves Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson to do what they can by bouncing off against each other, which they do by leaning way too hard into their typical character types. Let’s put it this way: this is a movie in which someone eats a French fry that’s been dipped in toilet water, and there’s no good narrative reason for it. If that tickles your funny bone, then good on you, but it’s not especially relevant to any con job.
The Hustle is Recommended If You Like: Sticking raunchy humor into a genre where it might not fit
Grade: 2 out of 5 Sob Stories
June 9, 2018
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Anne Hathaway, Awkwafina, Cate Blanchett, Gary Ross, Helena Bonham Carter, James Corden, Mindy Kaling, Ocean's 8, Richard Armitage, Rihanna, Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson
CREDIT: Barry Wetcher/Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow Pictures
This review was originally posted on News Cult in June 2018.
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, Richard Armitage, James Corden
Director: Gary Ross
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Indulgent Behavior That Might Be Incriminating
Release Date: June 8, 2018
I am always wary of crime flicks in which the criminals are the protagonists and get away with it. Sure, cinema can be escapist fantasy, and I trust that most audiences understand that the glorification of illegal behavior does not make it okay in real life. But there is a moral component to movies, so this genre needs to be careful about the messages it sends out. That is what most concerns me about Ocean’s 8, much more so than whether or not it is a good idea to have all-female spinoffs or if these ladies would be better off assembling for some original concept (it is at least theoretically possible to have both, after all). We can rest assured that Debbie Ocean’s (Sandra Bullock) heist is mostly a victimless crime, although maybe a few millionaires take a hit. There is no sense, though, that this is a matter of acting on behalf of the little guy to stick it to the 1%. The underlying message is basically that you do what you do because you’re good at it, and that cavalier attitude is not exactly ruinous, but it can be mighty discomforting if you think about it.
But if we can allow ourselves to revel in the fantasy for two hours, does Ocean’s 8 deliver the entertainment that it is designed to? It takes a while to get going, with a rather sluggish pace as Debbie assembles her crew. And it does not help that we have seen these character types before: the tech expert, the street scam artist, the suburbanite trying to hide her criminal past. But once the plan gets going, the pace clicks along nicely. The heist itself – get celebrity Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) to wear a famous necklace worth millions at the Met Gala, swipe it off her and replace it with a convincing facsimile – is adequately innovative. As everyone carries out their jobs, the cast comes alive, with Hathaway in particular having a blast. And it pulls off the third act moments that make you go, “They did it. Those magnificent bastards pulled it off!” There are the moments when we learn what really went down that we didn’t see at the time, and then here comes a new major character who helps the ladies wrap it all up in a bow. Nothing is getting reinvented, but the gears are still turning smoothly.
Less interesting, and much more perfunctory, are the connections to the Ocean’s franchise at large. A few vets of Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen pop in for cameos, which might spark thrills of recognition. Much is made of Debbie’s connection to her brother, the supposedly deceased Danny, that is meant to go beyond, “Hey, remember this character you already love?” There are some ideas about genetic destiny that are worth exploring more in depth, but Ocean’s 8 mostly plays these moments as just a toast to its forebears. Acknowledgement of one’s predecessors is generally a good idea, but you need to take it a step further if you want to truly slay.
Ocean’s 8 is Recommended If You Like: All the typical heist film beats, Suspending your moral compass for two hours
Grade: 3 out of 5 Blind Spots
November 11, 2012
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 38, SNL, SNL Season 38
If you wanted a house of representatives, you built one yourself.
Cold Opening – Mitt Romney’s House
I chuckled at Mitt telling America that it hurt his feelings “very, very much.” What was up with the heart forming around the scene and then going away before the scene ended? B-
Anne Hathaway’s Monologue
Another singing monologue?! Well, Anne’s a good singer. And the entire cast was involved! That actually makes it all better. I couldn’t quite make out the lyrics while they were all singing at the end, but it definitely came together quite nicely. B+
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