Round-up 33: Netflix, Warner Bros., and New Releases

So far, so good, as it goes. The last month, things have been really lining up in my favor, and while I’d love to think it’s the brief nice side of the pendulum swinging, the logical side sees the hard work I’ve been putting in and knows it’s well deserved. I have a new job starting in a couple of weeks, the holidays are around the corner, and more than anything, it has been a damn fine year for film, at least as it pertains to releases. There’s still time left on the clock too.

Getting into the good stuff, I’d like to take a few moments to leave my opinions on Netflix acquiring Warner Brothers just this past week. Pardon my French, but what the fuck? Are things not completed botched to Hell as it is? The $72 billion dollar may be one of the final nails in the coffin of the true cinema experience. The effects of the Pandemic very well are becoming permanent; signs of the ways to come. I am not against streaming films and television, let me be clear, and even if I was, there’s no sense in that battle as the advancement of technology in general is inevitable, and at a rapid pace nonetheless. I am an avid user of the streaming platforms myself, HBO (I refuse to bend the knee on that one) being one of my most popular. But is that how you want to experience films for the first time? Is that better than going to the theater? I’ll be honest, there was a long stretch there where I hadn’t been for a while; but the moment I returned, the feelings of nostalgia and comfort almost overwhelmed me. Maybe this is a selfish endeavor, but I’d be really damn sad if cinemas died off completely. I fear they will meet a similar fate to that of Blockbuster and company, which would be absolute worst-case scenario. The other, more realistic scenario is that they become limited commodities for the rich and upper class alone, isolated to large, major cities like NYC and LA. Some may call this prediction a bit doom and gloom of which I have been accused of being on frequent occasion. I pray those individuals are right, and that I am wrong.

Onto more positive things, what have I watched since I last reported? Thanksgiving came and went, and I spent the morning of that day watching the quintessential John Hughes classic, Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987). Embarrassingly, this is on the list of films I had been kicking down the road year after year. I kept telling myself I would watch it every Thanksgiving for the past five or so years. Each Thanksgiving came and went and I never watched it. Now that I have seen it at age (almost) twenty-four, I am glad that I waited, or at the very least, waited to watch this after seeing the majority of the rest of his filmography throughout middle and high school. This is by far the most mature of Hughes’ films, not only with language (in one particularly hilarious scene), but more importantly with the situations the main characters find themselves in. The plot follows Steve Martin’s Neal Page, who is on his way home to Chicago from New York City to spend Thanksgiving with his wife and children. Everything goes wrong from the get-go, as his boss holds him late, he fails to hail a cab during rush hour, and is then subjected to flight delays that land him in the palms of Del Griffith, an overwhelmingly charming, talkative, and observationally unaware man played by none other than the John Candy. The film leans heavily into the chemistry between Martin and Candy, which is only superpowered by the incredibly crispy script from Mr. Hughes. A gorgeous series of set pieces race by the characters as they are pitted against each other in their mutual quests to return home. What shocked me was the dramatic bombs dropped throughout the film, especially in its final moments. They are jarring, sure, but never off-setting the established tone of the film. John Candy carried this one, may he rest in peace. This one will be forever on the Thanksgiving docket going forward.

My next watch was a new one that I’d been hearing lots of conflicting takes on. I have been a big fan of Yorgos Lanthimos since I first saw Poor Things (2023), and then especially after Kinds of Kindness (2024), so hearing that he was doing yet another new film for 2025, I was already hyped. Bugonia (2025) stars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemmons (once again), in a dark comedy-drama revolving around an alien conspiracy perpetuated by Plemmons’ character. Mr. Plemmons plays Teddy, and is accompanied by his cousin Don in a small rural Americana town, where they keep bees and live a modest lifestyle. Flashbacks reveal that Teddy’s mother was long ago relegated to nursing services for a mysterious illness, of which he blames the local pharmaceutical company for manipulating. Said company is run by Emma Stone’s Michelle, “girl power” in real life, using corporate speak in every context necessary. It is difficult to say too much more about the plot without giving away key components, but what I will say is that the emphasis on American conspiracy theorists and the lengths they’ll go to to justify absurd and dangerous behavior is very funny and poignant given our present society. The performances from Plemmons and Stone are absolutely top notch, some more of the best of the year, which is becoming increasingly more difficult to narrow down. Emma Stone specifically really stole the show in this one. There are a number of life and death situations she finds herself in where her dry, corporate delivery left me in stitches. But it shouldn’t be ignored how great she is at the physical aspects of the job too, she can throw some hands, let’s just put it that way. Also, surprise Stavvy! Overall, a very enjoyable film, but I can understand the weariness of some as the Yorgos Lanthimos market has become a bit oversaturated, with a new film three years in a row. I have a feeling he will go into hibernation now, as is on par with his previous sprints, but I will be looking forward to his return.

I am a big Conan O’Brien fan; I listen to his podcast regularly. He had quietly and modestly mentioned a number of times his involvement in a new film called If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (2025), but for whatever reason I hadn’t thought much of it. Well, after seeing some trailers for the project, and realizing it was in fact very up my alley, I made a point of watching. The film is a dark comedy-drama written and directed by Mary Bronstein and stars Rose Byrne as a struggling mother of a young daughter with an undisclosed, mysterious, yet critical health condition. We follow the mother as she wrestles with her daughter’s illness, a non-present father, an increasingly questionable therapist (played by Conan, which I’ll get to a in a moment), and a world that seems legitimately out to get her. Many comparisons have been made by others calling it another Uncut Gems (2019), and while there are many similarities between the two tonally and in execution of its more stressful moments, this film leans far more heavily into the dark comedy than people are giving credit for. Conan O’Brien’s portrayal of the mean therapist the mother meets with is some pitch perfect dark and dry comedy. I knew Rose Byrne had chops, and believe me when I say she carries this whole film on her back, and moreover gives yet another award-level performance in the lead, but it was Conan that ultimately surprised me the most with his intense delivery throughout. We all know the man is funny, but to see him so easily slip into such a dark and mysterious character, and so convincingly, was really cool to watch. I hope we get more dramatic Conan in years to come, because I think there could be something really cool there yet to be fully unlocked. A$AP Rocky is also in the film for a number of scenes, and despite my ripping of Highest 2 Lowest (2025) [and primarily Spike Lee’s fault, mind you], he did a very good job keeping up opposite Byrne. This will no doubt be a tough watch for some, but if you can stick it out to the end, I can promise you it is worth the adventure. I will no doubt be rewatching this sometime soon to digest the deeper themes in more detail.

Guillermo Del Toro has been a filmmaker on my list of “directors I really need to sit down and watch of their films” for a while now, so I thought it made sense to start with his most recent film, an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which just came out a couple of months ago. Given what I know about Del Toro’s work, and in particular his knack for body and gothic horror, I had high expectations for this one; perhaps too high, as while I enjoyed the film thoroughly, I was a bit let down by the final product. Everyone knows the story of Frankenstein, so I won’t bore you with those details, but I will say I have a deep appreciation for filmmakers who give their source material the flowers they deserve, and Del Toro does exactly this. This is probably the most faithful adaptation of Shelley’s story that has ever graced the big screen. It is big, it sprawls through time, jumping between present and past as the pieces of Victor Frankenstein’s life, and the life of the creature he creates mesh together. Where it falls short is in the lingering melodrama that turns the story into far more of a drama than a horror film. While there are definitely moments of graphic violence, they are mostly few and far between, as he chose to focus more of his energy on the dramatic beats of the story. Some will call this a shallow take, perhaps, but given the legacy Del Toro has built for himself, I assumed it reasonable to say this would be something he would be able to balance. But enough of me being such a Debbie Downer about the thing, what did I enjoy? There is plenty to love here, especially in the meticulous set design, which ranges greatly in style as the colors and light shift around. The scenes in the laboratory were some of my personal favorites, as this is definitely where Del Toro really shines. The acting by Jacob Elordi is also very great, and proves that he is on the path to become a truly great actor when given the right material. He completely disappears into the role of the creature, putting an emphasis on the more delicate and gentle side of its demeanor. This also simultaneously a testament to Elordi’s ever-growing range, which is consistently proving pretty impressive.

I had originally planned for Frankenstein to be my last film of the round-up, but the forces of the universe, or God, had other plans. A very good friend of mine has been recommending me movies for a while now, and a lot of them have kept getting put on the back burner. This is me being a shitty friend. But I digress, I woke up in the very early hours of this Sunday morning, and unable to return to sleep due to feeling a bit queasy from poor sleep (Modelos, “a few small beers”, if you will) I decided to bite the bullet on one she’s told me about the night prior. As a self-proclaimed “film nerd”, how is it that I hadn’t seen the masterpiece that is La La Land (2016)? This is rhetorical, of course, as I would only have the true answer, and now having finally seen it, I can say that confidently: I am an asshole. I’m a big Damien Chazelle fan, especially after Whiplash (2014), and this being his sophomore project that almost won best picture, what the hell, man? For the two people who don’t know what this film is about, La La Land follows Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone’s respective characters as they struggle through the LA grind for fame. Gosling’s character is obsessed with jazz music, trapped playing holiday tunes at crappy diners. Stone’s is an aspiring actress working as a barista in a film lot café. Their lives collide as they fall in love and begin supporting one another’s dreams, all until the success begins to get in the way of things. What I forgot going into this one is that it is a pure-cut musical, and a damn great one for that matter too. Every single musical number is catchy and engaging and pushes the story forward instead of dragging it. The pacing is immaculate as well; the runtime clocks in at just over two hours, but it hardly feels like an hour and a half. The acting from both Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are incredible, they had really great chemistry together, really driving home the romantic aspect of the plot, but also the aspiring creative personality. In other words, this was a damn perfect film. Absolutely zero flaws, and that being said, I can absolutely see how this got to Chazelle’s head as he went into the next couple of projects following. A new comfort film for me, if I’m being completely honest.

I would call this one of the more successful round-ups as of late! I’m really glad I finally got around to some of those new releases, particularly If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and Bugonia. I am very, very excited for Marty Supreme, which comes out Christmas Eve, and I do plan on going to see immediately after work that day. What are you excited for in the coming months? Anything on your radar? Agree or disagree with my takes on these new films? As always, comments are hugely encouraged. Be good, watch a good movie.