SPOILER Magazine January 2022

Almost Dead is a postapocalyptic horror-drama adventure about triumph, growth, and the resiliency of the human spirit. With their cinematic comic book series which depicts vicious and visceral events in a raw yet beautiful way, Galaxy, Brehm, and Napolitano have redefined the genre and nearly invented one of their

own. Infusing the perilous and unexpectedly exciting journey with absolute horror and an attention to detail that’s rooted in and dedicated to realism, the writers have established a nexus point between exhilaration and terror.

Pick up Almost Dead in late-2022.

Meet your new sidekick gita is a first-of-its-kind hands-free robot that follows you and totes your gear.

OUR TEAM Editor-in-Chief Galaxy Print Editor Art Director Sara Hope Kent Klarks Design and illustration Supervisor Ronald Garcia Design Manager Zerologhy Copy Editor Ethan Brehm

INSIDE OUR y UNIVERSE x a l a

by G Welcome to another amazing issue of SPO!LER!

Staff Writers The Greatest Writing Team in Our Universe Ethan Brehm Tom Tormey Matthew Mclachlan Vanessa Bellew Robert Napolitano David Grand Phuong Pham Natalie Reade Michelle Fontana Moses Gamer Social Media Manager Thor the all mighty Advertising Ads@SpoilerMagazine.com Sponsorship sponsorship@SpoilerMagazine.com Press Please send all press releases to: press@SpoilerMagazine.com Please send all review material to: review@SpoilerMagazine.com Subscriptions For all subscription enquiries please contact: sub@SpoilerMagazine.com Check out our website for details on how to get our DIGITAL EDITION Circulation Do you want this magazine at your local book store, comic book hangout, toy shop, or anywhere else for that matter?

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SPOILER Magazine is printed in the USA SPOILER Magazine 7095 Hollywood Blvd Hollywood, California 90028 “Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening” - Galaxy

2022 is now officially underway and we couldn’t think of a cooler project to feature on our cover this month than Uncharted! The action-adventure epic changed the video game world back in the ‘00s with its innovations in single-player conventions, production design, and graphics. It was perhaps the closest we’d ever seen to a cinematic experience on console, and now it’s ready yet again to shake up a different industry entirely with a live-action feature film adaptation coming out this February. Movies based on video games have long been hit or miss, but with the quality of those movies seeing an upward trend in recent years, now’s a better time than ever before.

We should also be unveiling our SPO!LER Awards trophy soon, hopefully

by March, right after we deliver them to the winners. And by April, we plan to have a follow-up featuring images of some of the winners holding their very own golden beverage cups!

In just a couple years, SPO!LER has become one of the top fandom, multigenre magazines in the country, and we can’t wait to bring you along with us for the next leg in our journey! We are so excited for 2022 and have slated so many cool covers and articles for this year.

We’ve also embarked on some fun projects that we can’t wait to announce, such as our 2022 convention tour, upcoming short films, our comic book series Almost Dead, and of course our latest NFT project and tons of amazing giveaways!

Just like Uncharted’s Nathan Drake, we’re always on the lookout for the next big adventure and how we can expand our horizons with ideas and opportunities that may be a bit nerve-racking at first, but will yield astronomical rewards in the end.

So stay tuned for all the excitement! We couldn’t do it without you.

I wish you all an amazing new year. Please stay healthy and safe!

Love you all,

Galaxy Galaxy EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @ComicConRadio january 2022|

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table of contents

FEATURES

12 uncharted

paving the way once again

SPOILER MAGAZINE TABLE OF CONTENTS

the watch

16 tom holland

Best Non-MCU Performances

58 Miranda Frigon

20 Mark Wahlberg

From Good Vibrations to Hollywood Royalty

68 Aleks Paunovic

SPOILER MAGAZINE TABLE OF CONTENTS

the base

26 at the movies

78 comic book review www.spoilermagazine.com | Follow us on Instagram: @SpoilerMedia

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BY ETHAN BREHM

when the developers behind crash bandicoot and Jak and Daxter decide to make a brand new video game more grounded in the human experience than the cartoonish aesthetics of their previous offerings, you pay attention. In 2005, the Santa Monicabased company Naughty Dog assigned director Amy Hennig—fresh off her latest game Jak 3—to helm and co-write a brand new IP that pulls from similar pulp influences as Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider.

The result was 2007’s Playstation exclusive Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, which stars prolific treasure hunter Nathan Drake and would be only the first in a franchise now seven games in—including two spin-offs, a mobile app, and an expansion—with an eighth to come later this year. And so when Sony and former Marvel Studios CEO Avi Arad joined together in 2008 to produce a feature film adaptation, the sky was definitely the limit.

Of course, production was hairy to say the least, and everyone from Nathan Fillion to Chris Pratt to Mark Wahlberg was attached to play Nathan Drake before producers eventually landed on Tom Holland in 2017.

Wahlberg was then cast as Drake’s mentor and partner Victor “Sully” Sullivan.

Prior to Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer landing the job as director, several others were signed on to the project, including David O. Russell

(who originally had plans for Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci to have prominent roles), Dan Trachtenberg, Neil Burger, Seth Gordon, and Shawn Levy, with producers even approaching Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg to pen the script. Wheel of Time showrunner Rafe Judkins would end up reworking a screenplay originally written by Joe Carnahan (Bad Boys For Life, Boss Level), with Iron Man duo Art Marcum and Matt Holloway coming in for later contributions.

planned video game adaptations

CrossFire

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Five Nights at Freddy’s

Gears of War

Ghost of Tsushima

Just Cause

Just Dance

Mega Man

Uncharted: Naughty Dog,Sony/CrossFire:Smilegate/Five Nights at Freddy’s:ScottGames,Illumix/Gears of War:Epic Games,Xbox/Ghost of Tsushima:Sucker Punch Productions,Sony/Just Cause:Square Enix /Just Dance:Ubisoft/Mega Man:Capcom/Minecraft:Mojang/Metal Gear Solid:Konami/Portal:Valve Corporation/ Space Invaders:Taito/Tomb Raider:Square Enix, United Artists/Saints Row:Deep Silver/Yakuza:Sega Sammy

The film, finally coming out February 18, is a prequel of the video game series and follows a young Drake and Sully as they embark on their greatest quest yet while also searching for Drake’s long-lost brother. Sophia Ali (Grey’s Anatomy) plays Chloe Frazer, Drake’s love interest, and Tati Gabrielle (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) plays a character named Braddock.

Antonio Banderas has a role as a rival treasure hunter, Moncada, the film’s villain.

Minecraft

Metal Gear Solid

Uncharted won’t be like most other video game adaptations, for its DNA sees quality from both behind the camera and in front. Fleischer is the perfect man for the job, his oeuvre (which also includes Venom and 30 Minutes or Less) proving his ability to blend darker elements with lightheartedness. Wahlberg and Holland have also been at their best when flexing both their action and comedy chops together.

The film industry has long had a complicated relationship with video game adaptations, all starting with 1993’s Super Mario Bros. In recent years, however, the tides seem to have been changing, with more of a grasp on the unique tones of the source materials and less focus on the misguided self-seriousness that has plagued a lot of older adaptations. For comparison, the first 25 years of video game movies have an average of 18% (!) on Rotten Tomatoes, but since 2018, that number has climbed to a relatively impressive 56%, with big screen

Portal

Space Invaders

Tomb Raider: Obsidian

iterations of Sonic the Hedgehog, Detective Pikachu, Werewolves Within, and a new and improved Mortal Kombat leading the way.

2022 alone will see a Sonic the Hedgehog sequel, the Eli Rothdirected Borderlands, and an animated Mario movie accompany Uncharted, which is expected to lead all of Hollywood in these first couple months of the year.

Uncharted, the game, always had a cinematic quality compared to its contemporaries. Raising the bar for single-player mechanics, realistic graphics, and overall narrative quality, the series continued to push the boundaries with each new release. Uncharted, the movie, is expected to set the standard once again for what filmmakers can do with these immersive and complex storylines found in video games, bringing a new definition for what’s possible when transposing these gems to the silver screen.

Saints Row

Yakuza

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tom holland will forever be know as spider-man —and objectively the best version of the web-slinger—but we also shouldn’t let that detract from the fact that he’s one heck of an actor. Picked for his natural gifts just as much as his indelible charms, Holland—only 19 by the time he was cast as Spidey—had already proven himself as a formidable talent prior to his first MCU solo outing in SpiderMan: Homecoming, and hasn’t disappointed in his projects since then either. If you’re not sure where to start with the London-born star’s filmography, here’s a list to help you out…

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the impossible (2012) Holland burst onto the scene in 2012 with a major role in The Impossible, the disaster drama following a family that gets separated after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami devastates Thailand during their Christmas holiday. Alongside Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, Holland, who was 14 at the time of filming, earned several awards for his touching performance, going toe-to-toe with his two giant co-stars. One of the most notable film debuts in recent vintage, the actor’s entrance in Hollywood would end up being a strong sign for things to come.

Tom Holland/Spider-Man:Marvel;Disney/The Impossible,In the Heart of the Sea:Warner Bros./The Lost City of Z:Amazon;Bleecker Street/Pilgrimage:RLJE/The Devil All the Time:Netflix/Cherry:Apple Inc.

BY ETHAN BREHM

in the heart of the sea (2015) One half good movie, one half slog, Ron Howard’s sailing film about the real-life events that inspired Herman Melville’s famed novel Moby Dick tells an intriguing story at the very least and features Holland in a supporting role as Thomas Nickerson, a 14-yearold cabin boy on the Essex, and the man responsible for relaying his epic adventure to Melville some 30 years later. Holland might not be at the forefront, with his future Avengers co-star Chris Hemsworth starring as the stubborn first mate Owen Chase, but his passive surrogate role takes a certain kind of skill that often goes unnoticed.

the devil all the time (2020)

the lost city of z (2016) Playing the son of ambitious reallife explorer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam), Holland doesn’t get as much screen time as his character deserves in James Gray’s The Lost City of Z, but still helps to serve up this film’s paternal themes in a crucial way. As his character ventures through the Amazon in search of ruins of a lost civilization with his father, the actor shows early signs of his adventurous spirit and ability to carry a movie that possesses both blockbuster elements and an ethereal DNA.

Perhaps the best non-MCU movie to ever star the actor, The Devil All the Time was criminally overlooked upon its 2020 release. Following the saga of an orphaned boy who comes across all kinds of dark and twisted characters as he attempts to navigate good and evil as a teenager in West Virginia, the Southern Gothic film is rich with heady motifs and rich symbolism. Holland keeps a delightful restraint, doing most of his acting with his eyes for a character driven by sincerity and assertiveness—heroic in his own right.

cherry (2021)

pilgrimage (2017) Premiering at Tribeca just 2 months before Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pilgrimage is officially Holland’s first starring role. Portraying a Catholic monk tasked by the Pope to deliver a holy relic from Ireland to Rome, Holland commands the screen in this little known gem with his knack for thoughtful acting and stern charisma. He stars alongside Jon Bernthal as their characters exemplify true brotherhood throughout their rigorous travail.

Seeing the actor reunite with his Avengers: Endgame directors Anthony and Joe Russo, Cherry proves Holland as a force to be reckoned with no matter the quality of the movie around him. Divisive upon its release, the film strikes an unsettling dissonance as it seems to have way too much fun telling a pitch-black story about a soldier with PTSD who ends up addicted to heroin, bringing his loved ones down with him. Yet, it’s Holland’s performance that’s the main takeaway, navigating perfectly through the murky gloom.

Even amidst moments of the most unbridled abandon required for his character, the actor still shows a level of astute control, hitting every note that he’s given and doing it with absolute brilliance and conviction. january 2022|

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his Academy Awards nomination for The Departed, Mark Wahlberg got together with a group of young rappers and dancers to form Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch in 1990. A year later, their hit club single “Good Vibrations,” produced by his brother Donnie, reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart— only the second rap song ever to do so at the time. Another top 10 hit (“Wildside”), a platinum album, and a generational Calvin Kline ad later and suddenly the world knew who Mark Wahlberg was.

In 1993, the Boston native landed his first acting role in the TV movie The Substitute. A year later he dropped the alliterative moniker for his first feature film Renaissance Man where he had a small role alongside Danny DeVito and Gregory Hines.

He then appeared with Leonardo DiCaprio in 1995’s The Basketball Diaries, surprising audiences and critics with his capabilities as a

serious actor, eventually landing him his first starring role in the thriller Fear in 1996.

Despite the Funky Bunch disbanding in 1993, Wahlberg continued to release solo projects up until his retirement from music in 1998, coinciding with the success of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, where he played porn star Dirk Diggler, easily one of his most notable roles to date and the one that propelled his fledgling acting career at that point.

The following years saw him shift towards popular action flicks such as The Big Hit, Three Kings, The Perfect Storm, Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes, The Italian Job, and Four Brothers. In 2004, he was featured in the critically acclaimed I Heart Huckabees and also served as executive producer on the HBO series Entourage, loosely based on his own success in Hollywood.

But it was his 2006 performance in

Martin Scorcese’s The Departed that earned him the most praise thus far, along with an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor (he would end up losing out to Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine, but The Departed still won Best Picture), launching a new chapter in his blossoming career.

Despite a handful of serious roles in movies like Shooter, We Own the Night, The Happening, Max Payne, and The Lovely Bones, Wahlberg’s foray into the comedy genre with a starring role in 2010’s The Other Guys alongside Will Ferrell helped give his career a second life. Following that film’s success, he balanced humorous outings such as Ted, Pain & Gain, 2 Guns, and Daddy’s Home with more austere turns in the Best Picture nominee The Fighter, Broken City, Lone Survivor, The Gambler, Patriots Day, and All the Money in the World, as well as big budget blockbusters like Transformers: Age of Extinction, Deep Water Horizon,

Mark Wahlberg:GQ;Peggy Sirota/Donnie Darko:Pandora Cinema;Newmarket Films/ Ocean’s Eleven:Warner Bros./Brokeback Mountain:Focus Features/

over 15 years before

Star Trek:ViacomCBS/Fast and the Furious:Universal/Batman:DC;Warner Bros./Assault on Precinct 13:Rogue Pictures/The Black Dahlia:Universal/Pride and Glory:Warner Bros.

BY ETHAN BREHM

Other Roles That Almo

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Batman Forever (1995)

The Fast and the Furious (2001)

Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

Dick Grayson/ Robin (went to Chris O’Donnell)

Brian O’Conner (went to Paul Walker)

Sergeant Jake Roenick (went to Ethan Hawke)

and Transformers: The Last Knight. In 2017, he was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.

His latest film Uncharted sees the actor balancing all three of his tonal strengths with an action-adventure story based on the treasure hunting video game series of the same name. Directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, Venom), the movie is sure to have some comedic elements tossed into the mix as well. Starring alongside Tom Holland, Wahlberg will play Victor Sullivan, a seasoned clue tracker and mentor to Holland’s character Nathan Drake.

Among Wahlberg’s upcoming projects is a feature film adaptation of the ‘70s TV series The Six Million Dollar Man, where he plays the titular role of Steve Austin. He’s also producing an origins story for Julius Caesar called The Roman, which was recently announced.

It’s safe to say at this point in his career, the actor-producer has found a sort of freedom. Along with co-owning a successful chain of restaurants called Wahlburgers and co-starring in the accompanying reality show of the same name, Wahlberg has pursued several other business ventures, including shared equity in a sports nutrition company, a cricket team, and a car dealership, and launching a website based on his show Ballers.

A long way off from Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch, Wahlberg’s enthusiasm in expanding his horizons has always seemed to be ingrained in his career, which began as an irreverent rapper and evolved into an Oscar-nominated actor and businessman. It’s always been exciting to see where the multihyphenate will venture to and which hat he will wear next.

missing the mark Despite one of the most impressive résumés in Hollywood, Wahlberg still passed on the chance to star in these major films…

donnie darko (2001)

ocean’s eleven (2001)

The role that helped launch Jake Gyllenhaal’s career was originally offered to Wahlberg. However, after the actor insisted that the title character in the cult classic Donnie Darko have a lisp, director Richard Kelly decided to go with Gyllenhaal instead. With Wahlberg almost in his thirties, it would have been a stretch for him to play a high schooler anyway.

Wahlberg turned down a major role in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven remake in favor of another remake, Planet of the Apes. The part of Linus Caldwell eventually went to Matt Damon, who went on to reprise the character in two sequels.

Wahlberg and Damon would co-star in 2006’s The Departed.

brokeback mountain (2005)

star trek (2009)

ost Went to Wahlberg The Black Dahlia (2006)

Pride and Glory (2008)

Lee Blanchard (went to Aaron Eckhart)

Sergeant Jimmy Egan (went to Colin Farrell)

Passing on another role that eventually went to Jake Gyllenhaal, Wahlberg was uncomfortable with the content of the Ang Lee neoWestern Brokeback Mountain and only made it through 15 pages of the script, reportedly, before saying no to playing Jack Twist. Joaquin Phoenix was also set to portray the part that would eventually go to Heath Ledger, but backed out for similar reasons.

Originally offered the part of Captain Kirk’s father, George Kirk, in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek reboot, Wahlberg—who admits that he didn’t grow up watching much sci-fi—said he had a hard time grasping the elaborate patois of the universe and passed on the role because of it.

George Kirk was eventually given to Chris Hemsworth, but now Wahlberg says he would never turn down an opportunity to work with Abrams ever again. january 2022|

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atm

king richard

DIRECTED BY: Reinaldo Marcus Green / CAST: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal If there’s one actor in Hollywood who could never play a villain, it’s Will Smith. He’s come close, I suppose, in the form of the assassin-turnedhero Deadshot in Suicide Squad, or the titular antihero in Hancock (okay, that’s a stretch). But still, he’s always enjoyed praise-worthy arcs in every one of his films. With his most recent turn in King Richard as Richard Williams, father and coach of arguably two of the greatest female tennis players ever to play the sport, the actor stays true to form.

However, this might be the first time where he’s shown any true unlikable colors.

Richard is, at heart, a good man.

Determined to be better than his own father, who once allegedly left his son to be beaten up by racists in his hometown in Louisiana, Richard vows to stick up for his own children, even if he, too, has buried tendencies of abandonment himself.

Forced to defy a typical character trajectory, director Reinaldo Marcus

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Green ensures that we grow to love Richard before we ever become frustrated, even angry at him, and diligently picks his spots to unwrap his protagonist’s vices. By the end, we not only come to know Richard Williams inside and out, but are able to really admire him.

Having a vision to groom his two youngest daughters, Venus and Serena, to become the greatest tennis players of all time, Richard has studied the sport to no end and proceeds to submit unsolicited tapes of his daughters to famous tennis coaches, many of whom laugh him out of the room—not just because he’s a Black man from Compton trying to convince a bunch of stodgy old White dudes that his 10- and 11-year-old girls will become the next big thing, but because he doesn’t necessarily have a polish to the way he carries himself.

Embracingly salt-of-the-earth, Richard calls things as he sees them—a trait that allows him to be

so successful, but also vexes his daughters’ coaches every step of the way. As for the public and the media, the hype surrounding Venus is so immense prior to her first matches that nobody knows what to believe.

One analyst questions Richard: “A genius or a huckster?” Well, as far as we can tell, it may be a little of both. With confidence that’s half justified and half blind, he’s also lucked into having two daughters with exceptional physical gifts that there’s no way they wouldn’t have succeeded—that is, as long as they were given the chance to.

It’s no secret that the sport of tennis has always been traditionally White—and rich—so two young Black girls from Compton getting the chance to be the next Michael Jordans of their sport could have happened in the ‘90s only with someone believing that they could, in fact, succeed. Sometimes blind confidence isn’t just all you have, but it’s all you need.

King Richard:Warner Bros./Society:Wild Street Pictures

AT THE MOVIES

Smith, who can make any role sympathetic, is the perfect man for the job as he melts into this nuanced character, both above and below the surface. Always great at nailing accents and cadences of the real-life people he portrays, the actor’s meticulous choices are just as responsible for turning King Richard into a character study as the brilliant script by Zach Baylin.

Smith’s eyes reflect these little personality contradictions that make Richard flawed and human—a little delusional, and, yes, even unlikable at times. The Louisiana lilt and hunched posture could’ve easily become some Eddie Murphy farce, but Smith is able to show—even just with his gaze—sadness and selfassuredness simultaneously; a fear of failure, but also a slight fear of success.

The best acted film of the year, King Richard has its share of big emotional strokes, but Green doesn’t milk these with typical filmmaking tricks.

Smith, who can make any role sympathetic, is the perfect man for the job as he melts into this nuanced character, both above and below the surface.

The director relies on his actors and the script to make these moments hit home, and it’s an absolute joy watching each performer’s chemistry with one another. Jon Bernthal plays Rick Macci, Venus’ eccentric and insanely likable coach. Always a fun person to watch act regardless, Bernthal has a kind of freedom with this role that he’s never quite had before, and also, like Smith, very much toes that line between realistic portrayal and caricature. However, it’s that risky teetering that provides a sense of vitality, allowing the actor to give the best performance of his career.

With the story ending after 14-yearold Venus nearly dethrones topseeded Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, King Richard merely implies the sisters’ dominance of the tennis world, barely showing Serena’s own career getting off the ground at all. But this smaller scope helps the film contain its emotion and focus on its themes. The result is less of a sports movie and more of a drama about perseverance and these unique personal dynamics.

The movie is filled with great characters, such as Brandy Price, Richard’s patient and headstrong wife, flawlessly portrayed by Aunjanue Ellis, who gradually works up to an incredibly delivered diatribe towards her husband late in the second act that nearly summarizes the entire film and Richard’s character. Tony Goldwyn plays Venus’ first tennis coach, Paul Cohen, whose straight-man frankness gives us the first real counterpoint for Richard, letting us witness the first grounded depiction of the outside world’s view of our protagonist as a person.

Richard must overcome his propensity for thinking of himself first—even if it’s always under the guise that what he’s doing is for his children’s sake. He eventually learns the difference between selfishly trying to find poetic justice for the wrongs against him by his own dad and actually using those wrongs to make him a better father.

More than a movie about tennis, King Richard is about being a parent, and the parallels between child rearing and preparation for playing any sport. No parent is perfect, and seldom do we practice what we preach, just like Richard. But at some point, you have no choice but to put faith in all that you’ve taught your kids. This isn’t a man’s journey to mastering the art of raising children, but his journey to trusting how he raised them enough to let them take the reins themselves.

a

retro reactions

society (1989) Sure, these days, the idea of the rich getting richer at the expense of the poor is a party line that’s parroted ad nauseum. But in the ‘80s, though the concept was just as ubiquitous, it was without any of the social media perpetuation of today. Fortunately, director Brian Yuzna presents these trite themes in a fun way with his debut, Society, about a Beverly Hills teenager who discovers that his quixotic privileged life may not be all that it seems.

Reminiscent of the sudden distrust experienced in John Carpenter’s They Live, with hints of the unraveling found in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown, along with the more personal aspects of Jack Nicholson’s character unraveling the conspiracy, Society deals with a species of rich people who have remained hidden for centuries and go to extreme measures to ensure that they remain on top. And our protagonist, Billy Whitney (Billy Warlock), is realizing that even though his parents and sister are high-ranking members of this secret community, he’s somehow still not one of them. Despite being a star athlete and one of the most popular guys in school, he nevertheless finds his own social status irrelevant as he’s not actually a part of this society’s bloodline.

By 1989, Yuzna was no stranger to body horror, serving as producer on classics like Re-Animator and From Beyond, but here he teams up with effects artist Screaming Mad George to create something so wild and imaginative that you truly have to see it to believe it. The director also knows how to get the best out of his performers, especially Warlock, a charismatic lead who adeptly handles the unexpected range of his character.

As good of a job as Yuzna does creating a sense of disorientation, the director fails to make us feel Billy’s disillusionment with his

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society atm (1989) - cont’d

atm

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AT THE MOVIES

Tick Tick Boom:Netflix

AT THE MOVIES

world and the society to which he’s grown accustomed—and has even reaped the benefits of. Perhaps this is because when we’re introduced to Billy, his paranoia is already well underway, thus making it harder for us to witness his world actually getting taken from him.

There are moments when the film fails to ground Billy’s cluelessness in plausibility as the character takes a while to catch on to what’s happening around him, even when it’s obvious. Early on, he tells his therapist that he hasn’t trusted anyone in his immediate circle for as long as he can remember, present company included. He glances down at the apple he’s eating and suddenly a glob of worms is crawling out of it. Later, he sees his sister’s body twisted around, but when he takes a closer look, it’s back to normal.

We’re unsure if his hallucinations are medically induced or inside his head.

Or if they’re even hallucinations at all.

Billy’s paranoia gets bloated quickly, but the film’s cleverness is always found within the sadistic nature of his gaslighting: faking deaths, switching top-secret recordings with normal ones, intentional warping of skin—it’s all chilling and mysterious. It’s not about deceiving Billy, but tricking him into thinking he’s crazy, to where the audience doesn’t know who to trust either.

It’s very difficult to pull off a situation where the main protagonist feels alone and alienated without frustrating the audience too much, but Society knows how to build this suspense without contriving gratuitous ways to make Billy feel isolated. Eventually, his best friend, Milo (Evan Richards), gets wisely promoted to secondary lead, coming at the perfect time for the viewer who’s ready for Billy to have some company.

A memorable finale helps burn this movie into our brains, featuring an elongated, grosser version of Joe Spinell’s comeuppance in 1980’s Maniac, filled with some of the most provocative splatterpunk imagery of the decade. Society offers more disorientation than it does consistent horror, and yet those typical genre elements are surprisingly not missed, despite being promised.

tick, tick... boom!

DIRECTED BY: Lin-Manuel Miranda / CAST: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesus

For those with unfulfilled artistic aspirations, turning 30 is pretty depressing. Your friends will tell you that “30 is the new 20,” or that “it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” but it’s difficult to see those phrases as much more than empty platitudes when the rest of society views them as just that. At the beginning of Tick, Tick... Boom!, based on Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical stage play of the same name, Andrew Garfield as Larson tells his off-off-Broadway

audience about how, when his own 30th birthday was approaching, his lack of achievement was something that had constantly been on his mind, eating away at him—the time bomb analogy referring to his last remaining weeks of “youth.”

Of course, Larson would go on to change the landscape of musicals with his hit Rent, but this film, and this story, isn’t about Rent, because the writer never got to see his megahit come to fruition (he died the same day as its workshop premiere).

Tick, Tick... Boom! follows Larson as he attempts to get his very first musical, Superbia, into production.

He’s been working on it for years and it’s basically finished with the exception of one of the songs. As he prepares to present his piece at a workshop for the first time, Jonathan struggles with writer’s block, which is both compounded with and getting in the way of his relationship with his girlfriend and his best friend,

aand simply being able to pay his utility bills.

Prolific playwright in his own right, Lin-Manuel Miranda directs his very first feature film with the hyper-stylization expected of a triple-layered metafiction about a struggling writer looking back at his life with his tongue occasionally planted in his cheek. Utilizing inventive storytelling devices, such as fourth wall breaks and dioramic set pieces, Miranda still never overreaches his grasp, ensuring that every bit of artistic inspiration comes from a place that makes sense narratively. Each song is justified by either the reflective framework of Larson singing on stage at a piano, or in the context of diegetic singalongs with his friends at a party.

The musical numbers are always self-aware in one way or another.

Done so in a very relatable and personal way, the motifs are layered, yet mostly tangential to one another, touching upon obvious ideas of artistic resiliency, but with an emphasis on the loneliness of being a writer, despite having friends and family who love you. Larson

Each song is justified by either the reflective framework of Larson singing on stage at a piano, or in the context of diegetic singalongs with his friends at a party. The musical numbers are always self-aware in one way or another. finds himself constantly denying or evading offers from everyone around him who’s trying to find him a normal job, terrified that if he accepts one of them that he, now at 30-years-old, will be abandoning his dreams and never get the chance for them to be fulfilled ever again.

And so, continuing to put all his eggs into this one basket, Jonathan has two reasons why he refuses to give

up: He wants it badly, but also, he doesn’t want to see the past seven years of his life—at an age where he already views himself as over-thehill—and all that hard work go to waste.

In adding another brilliant performance to his résumé, Andrew Garfield brings Larson to life, putting his own vulnerabilities on display in a way that few performers can ever allow themselves to give to a role, but does so with the perfect balance of control and utter abandon. A natural ball of passion, energy, and emotion, the actor seems to have found the exact piece of himself that he shares with the playwright, eliminating almost everything else.

Larson is such an interesting character study, even if perhaps adjacent to other tortured artists we’ve seen in film before. The confidence and charisma of someone who’s already gotten a taste, or even a mere promise, of greatness at some point in his life, Jonathan Larson is like a depressed Ferris Bueller who’s graduated from high school only to realize that the world he was set to conquer is a lot more domineering than he had previously thought. And also, the stakes are now much higher.

Even if you’re not on board with the political themes, Tick, Tick... Boom! is nevertheless one of the most cathartic films for the struggling artist since La La Land. While falling into the trap of 2021 social commentary at times, Miranda still allows his ‘90s-placed film to feel less like a biopic and more like an adaptation of Larson’s vision; telling the late writer’s story rather than simply checking off biographical boxes from his life.

movies for the tortured artist

A Star is Born (1976)

My Left Foot (1989)

Barton Fink (1991)

Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

Being John Malkovich (1999)

The Prestige (2006)

Black Swan (2010)

La La Land (2016)

Soul (2020)

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8-bit christmas

DIRECTED BY: Michael Dowse / CAST: Winslow Fegley, Neil Patrick Harris, Steve Zahn It’s hard enough to make a good Christmas movie these days, let alone a good live-action kids’ comedy. Combining the two into one may seem like an impossible task, even a recipe for disaster. And yet, Michael Dowse may have pulled off one of the best of both of the last few years with his latest film 8-Bit Christmas.

It helps to have a story that’s driven by something other than studio execs checking boxes of what they think the children of today want to see in their entertainment. Written by Kevin Jakubowski, based on his own book of the same name, 8-Bit Christmas oozes with personal touches as it tells the tale of an 11-year-old boy who will stop at nothing to get a Nintendo Entertainment System for Christmas, even though his parents have forbidden it. It’s unclear how autobiographical the story is for Jakubowski, but the protagonist

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is named “Jake,” so infer from that what you will.

Set in the late 1980s, the film is told retrospectively by adult Jake (Neil Patrick Harris) relaying the events to his young daughter (Sophia Reid-Gantzert), who has been begging her dad for a cell phone. Through his own childhood travails, he attempts to prove to her that memories aren’t born from the material goods we think will provide us with happiness, and that those items typically serve as our own real-life MacGuffins on the path to unforgettable experiences.

Over 30 years ago, Jake (Winslow Fegley) and his friends had one of the best and most memorable Christmases ever, yet at the time they thought life couldn’t get worse.

Jake himself has to deal with the school bully, a spoiled little sister, and parents who think that video games are evil, which leads to a town-wide ban by all the adults. Yet, Jake looks back on these memories fondly

as he’s now able to see how those challenges helped shape him today.

Taking plenty of notes from Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story, which informs a lot of the episodic plot, the quirkiness, the surrealistic freedom it takes with certain events, and even the dysfunctional family dynamic—inattentive parents and all—8-Bit Christmas still handles the sentimentality much better than its 1983 forerunner. While tonally different, Home Alone is probably a better comparison to how the film balances its unvarnished appeal with a not-quite-buried Christmas ethos.

8-Bit Christmas:HBO Max; Warner Bros.

AT THE MOVIES

Top to bottom, the film is really well cast, from the ensemble of child actors, who each fits his or her role perfectly, to the comedy veterans who play the adults, including Steve Zahn and June Diane Raphael as Jake’s parents, and David Cross as the skeezy huckster selling questionably authentic items from the trunk of his car.

Zahn is particularly great, as always, as John Doyle, the intensely myopic dad who yells a lot and just wants his kids to play outside with sticks. John is wisely not coded as one note just aiming to ruin his kid’s fun, but his actions are sprinkled with sweetness and a love for his son that humanize him past his archetypal pretense. His character’s profile and verbiage are definitely inspired—perhaps by someone in real life—and because of that, he’s given authentic depth, as well as many of the film’s best moments, with Zahn hilariously delivering lines of dialogue so bizarre that we’re unsure if he’s actually improvising or not.

Even when the pacing feels more like an elongated sitcom, with less places to be and in a longer amount of time, 8-Bit Christmas still always thrives on its characters. Whether it’s Jake’s Lois Wilkerson-esque mother who serves frozen Eggo waffles for breakfast (“Put it under your armpit for 2 minutes and it’ll thaw out”); or neighborhood kid Farmer (Max Malas), a pathological liar who continuously forces his way into Jake’s friend circle; or Conor Stump (Jacob Laval), their outcast classmate who occasionally imparts some of his strange words

of wisdom upon Jake (“Just think of something happy: Tell me your favorite letters of the alphabet!”), each character in this movie is written to be completely different than the others.

Jakubowski’s script oozes with personal touches and a clever assortment of setups and payoffs.

While the scenes can often become a bit talky, the plot is surprisingly lean and unpredictable, and the comedic bits are genuinely funny.

Unlike a lot of lesser kids’ comedies, 8-Bit Christmas doesn’t dwell on any of its jokes, let alone the bad ones, of which there aren’t very many.

A frequent collaborator with

Even when the pacing feels more like an elongated sitcom, with less places to be and in a longer amount of time, 8-Bit Christmas still always thrives on its characters.

There are still plenty of times when the film feels like a second tier Netflix movie (the film actually came out exclusively through HBO Max streaming), but I just have to constantly remind myself that that’s the state of most kids’ movies nowadays anyway. There are certain details that the filmmakers thought would fly over their young audience’s head, such as the arbitrary countdown timer during the mall “heist,” or a line or two surmising that 11-year-old boys of today would not make fun of their friend for wearing florally purple girl boots.

However, there’s enough genuine quality to justify all the oversights.

Obviously, 8-Bit Christmas doesn’t hide its retro angle, but it also doesn’t just bask in the olden days on an aesthetic level. While nods to shopping malls, Cabbage Patch Kids, and the Power Glove (with a character who sparks comparisons to The Wizard’s Lucas “It’s So Bad” Barton) are definitely crucial to the plot, it’s the film’s focus on the more personal and intangible aspects of growing up that provides the highest nostalgia for the audience— whether you grew up in the ‘80s or not.

b+

Dowse, Joseph Trapanese seems to be one of the few composers left who intentionally bakes these little hummable motifs into his musical scores. While most Hollywood genres are essentially conforming to melodic sameness, Christmas movies should still be legally required to have catchy and evocative riffs.

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the humans

DIRECTED BY: Stephen Karam / CAST: Richard Jenkins, Jayne Houdyshell, Beanie Feldstein Family get-togethers can be terrifying. Anyone who’s sat with their dysfunctional relatives during holidays knows how similar the experience can be to an actual horror film.

However, in writer-director Stephen Karam’s The Humans, based on his own Tony Awardwinning one-act play, the cinematic terror conventions aren’t felt by every character sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, it’s only the aging parents who are living in a horror movie and feeling paranoia: They’re jumping at creaking doors, lightbulbs blowing out, and the lady upstairs who sounds like she’s stomping on a cockroach every 4 minutes. It’s the parents who are terrified about what the future holds as they care for their own dementia-ridden matriarch, and are continuously asked to compromise their own morals and a lifetime’s worth of philosophies just so their kids won’t hate them. And yet, as

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we see, the bitterness from both generations is inevitable anyway— one more justified than the other.

Still, the horror elements in The Humans could be considered distracting or superfluous. There are frustratingly unfulfilled implications of the supernatural, but nothing of the sort is afoot and the characters’ lives are never in any physical danger—except, I suppose, for when grandma wanders off on her own for two minutes. This is somewhat the point that Karam is trying to make: Everything will be okay. And just

maybe we need one day each year where we’re forced to feel thankful.

Tensions are taut at a Thanksgiving dinner at Brigid and Richard’s (Beanie Feldstein and Steven Yeun) new run-down New York City apartment.

Brigid’s traditional, religious parents, Erik and Deirdre (Richard Jenkins and Jayne Houdyshell), make the trip from Pennsylvania bearing gifts and Grandma (June Squibb), and hope to get more acquainted with their daughter’s relatively new boyfriend.

Brigid’s sister, Aimee (Amy Schumer), also visits, but spends much of the time lamenting a recent breakup and dreading an upcoming intestine surgery.

The conversation moves around the two-story apartment, upstairs and downstairs, all slowly unveiling the essence of these characters and their dynamics with one another.

Karam keeps the film at a nearperfect pitch, utilizing his pseudohorror elements for paranoia and uneasiness, heightening our sense

The Humans:A24;Showtime

AT THE MOVIES

In fact, it’s only the aging parents who are living in a horror movie and feeling paranoia: They’re jumping at creaking doors, lightbulbs blowing out, and the lady upstairs who sounds like she’s stomping on a cockroach every 4 minutes. of who Erik and Deirdre are, all while establishing the dichotomy with their kids. Likewise, when the filmmaker uses a subjective vantage point—a common tool in horror—it’s always from the perspective of the parents. Whereas Brigid, Richard, and Aimee are only ever shown from the point of view of the audience.

Karam is able to thoroughly explicate his characters through meticulous coding rather than through a verbose script. A lesser writer would have accumulated depth by simply throwing darts at the wall hoping to cover every inch.

The Humans is really about the similarities and differences in the plight of each generation. As Brigid and Aimee both stress about their current lack of job security, their parents have each held their own humble careers for decades and are able to help out their kids financially, even if they find the pay at their respective jobs merely satisfactory.

Giving the horror conventions to the parents alone gives more credence and weight to their paranoia and dread, compared to the relatively minor issues faced by their children (i.e., At least Brigid and Aimee still have a lot of time for things to change in their lives).

Utilizing loose, yet effective blocking, Karam also evades the stage play pretext through a Howard Hawks approach to the dialogue, where characters talk over one another for a more realistic flow.

Even when the banter should feel unnatural, the talents of the cast keep the rhythm of the conversation from sounding rehearsed. Everyone performs effortlessly in their roles, but it’s Houdyshell who’s given the most to chew on—and boy, does she deliver. Perfectly becoming Deirdre, a loving mother who can’t help but let her resentments show through regardless of her massive love for her family, the actress gives one of the best performances of the year, bringing an unbelievable sense of groundedness to a film that anyone who’s seen enough of these single-location play adaptations would expect to feel contrived and pretentious.

The Humans is an interesting movie if nothing else, even though it won’t hit home for those who can’t relate. A masterclass in adapting a story from stage to screen, Karam’s

debut might ask us to take our eyebrows to astronomic heights, but at least he never loses the authenticity at the core.

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encounter

DIRECTED BY: Michael Pearce / CAST: Riz Ahmed, Octavia Spencer, Lucian-River Chauhan For those who hadn’t already noticed Riz Ahmed prior to last year’s Sound of Metal, his tour de force as a drummer who becomes deaf puts his talents on full display. He followed up the Oscar-nominated performance in 2021 with an underthe-radar turn (here in the States at least) as a rapper suffering from an autoimmune disease (Mogul Mowgli), and then again in a bigger project—the Amazon-produced Encounter, which had a marketing campaign that convinced us it would feature the British-Pakistani actor in a science fiction story.

Of course, the alien invasion plot in Encounter is a misdirect (in more ways than one). Ahmed’s Malik Khan, a former US Marine, rescues his two young sons from his ex-wife’s house, telling them that she, along with half the population, has been infected with a parasitic alien microorganism.

According to his calculations, the world is in big trouble. We’re treated to a grotesque opening

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montage of insects eating each other, mosquitoes planting tiny bugs under human skin, and those tiny bugs exploding and laying millions of even tinier eely creatures that scurry around. Bugs are gross. And for the first 40 minutes, we’re made to believe that everything Malik has told his sons is true.

But then something else happens.

We’re informed that Malik is actually a paroled convict with anger issues.

His parole officer, Hattie (Octavia Spencer), tells him over the phone that he’s missed his psychiatric evaluation, and suddenly we understand what’s happening.

Unlike this year’s Bliss or Flashback—both of which similarly have these WTF twists that uproot the proposed sci-fi plots to reveal something more cerebral underneath—Encounter lets us in early on and never goes too far into its protagonist’s delusions. We’re never shown the outside world conforming to these hallucinations.

We hear nothing on the news, see no overturned cars on the side of the road, and only view Malik’s vision of the aliens twice, very briefly. For all intents and purposes, we’re never actually given a reason to believe Malik other than the simple fact that he’s our main character.

Ahmed gives another unbelievable performance, despite lackluster material. It’s difficult to find depth in a character who’s strictly operating under hallucinations, but the truth of Malik’s identity is still there: He’s a dedicated father whose love for his sons is no delusion. The study of PTSD and psychiatric trauma

Encounter: Amazon/The Last Blockbuster:1091 Pictures

AT THE MOVIES

comes through solely because of the actor’s careful decision making and conviction in front of the camera.

While Ahmed propels the narrative, it’s Lucian-River Chauhan as Malik’s older son Jay who becomes our surrogate. Over the course of the movie, it’s Jay who goes through the stages of admiration, disillusionment, and then subsequent awakening in regards to his father. He’s the emotional force behind the film and

It’s always a joy to watch a young actor who’s not just good because of his adolescent charms, but because he can truly act, let alone alongside someone as talented as Riz Ahmed. delivers perfectly. It’s always a joy to watch a young actor who’s not just good because of his adolescent charms, but because he can truly act, let alone alongside someone as talented as Riz Ahmed.

Films like Encounter are tricky, where the relationship between expectation and delivery are never more frail. And yet, it’s not that jarring twist that has us bemused, but more the disappointment of the movie that was promised.

What ends up actually unfolding is arguably more intriguing than yet another sci-fi adventure, but for many people, seeing someone who

c+

recent discoveries

looks like Ahmed as the star of that sci-fi adventure would have been more than enough. Instead, the movie not only changes its course entirely, but draws more attention to the ethnic cast by attaching strings to it rather than just letting itself live.

And so, rather than using its diversity to show an audience how a minority lead can carry a blockbuster movie, it opts for obtrusive social commentary, preaching to us and attempting to say something about minorities in the military that doesn’t fully translate anyway. When you figure out a filmmaker’s objective, especially in a movie like this, it becomes very easy to guess where it’s going and how it will end.

Directed by Michael Pearce, based on a script written by him and Joe Barton, Encounter doesn’t do much to give credence to its counterarguments, relying on the viewer’s bias to drive those for the characters. Hattie, a Black parole officer, is supposedly talked down to by federal law enforcement officers who berate her for giving Malik the benefit of the doubt; Malik is hunted down by the sons of a White man who he almost beats to death after invading his home. Pearce struggles with whether or not he wants to show his hand, sloppily balancing overt themes with those that become buried in an attempt to hide his own objectives.

Leaning on the desert landscapes of its Nevada road trip framework, Encounter establishes an askew identity despite itself, if not a through line that’s able to tether this film to something authentic. At its worst, it’s a perfunctory statement on hot button issues, but at its best, this is a story about fatherhood, warts and all.

b the last blockbuster (2020) The Last Blockbuster, a film that seems to be conflicted about whether or not it wants to be informational or tell a sentimental story, still succeeds at consistently providing one thing: nostalgia.

Both a historical account of Blockbuster the company and an inside look at the last remaining rental store in Bend, Oregon, the film doesn’t necessarily depict the rise and fall of one of the greatest loadstones of American pop culture throughout the ‘90s in the way that you might hope for or expect, but tells the same story nonetheless through the eyes of a singular location in the Pacific Northwest.

While the history is there, it’s pretty brief and given mostly through voiceover narration and corporate jargon. However, director Taylor Morden makes sure to cover all the grounds for those hopeful of reconnecting with an institution that was such a massive part of their adolescence and coming-ofage. What was once a brand at the top of the world is now a cultural enigma. But why? The director gives us great perspective as he illustrates the confluence between those two juxtaposed notions, even leaving in some of the more critical

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AT THE MOVIES

comments about the company and their reputation back then.

It’s certainly a balancing act for Morden, but one that he’s able to deliver all the way to the end with no leaf left unturned—discussing all aspects, even including a section on that specific Blockbuster aroma at one point. He interviews some old execs, along with celebrities who worked at Blockbusters in their youths or some variation of a video store. But most importantly, Morden gives a perfect profile of Sandi Harding, the manager of the Bend location, who wins all of our hearts by the very end with her passion and dedication for her job.

Her loving husband and children all view Blockbuster as more than just the family business, but as the central hub for their community. It’s emblematic of the importance of all video stores as one of the bygone conduits for personal connection.

If at first you’re hoping for more of an informational, ToysThat-Made-Us-type unpacking of Blockbuster and its origins, by the end of this sweet documentary you’ll fall in love with this humble little store in Bend, the spirit of which will make you yearn for that part of your life you thought you’d left behind years ago.

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belfast

DIRECTED BY: Kenneth Branagh / CAST: Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan, Caitríona Balfe Deeply personal and at times too quixotic, Kenneth Branagh’s black-and-white Belfast is a semiautobiographical account of the writer-director’s childhood in Belfast, Northern Ireland just before his family decided to move to England to escape the Troubles—a complex and quasi-violent conflict that the film depicts as a war waged between Catholics and Protestants.

Viewed through the eyes of 9-year-old Buddy (Jude Hill), from a Protestant household, the turmoil has just begun to seep into his neighborhood, with groups of Protestants attacking Catholic homes on his street in 1969. His

father (Jamie Dornan) works overseas and comes home on occasional weekends, begging his wife—Buddy’s mother (Caitríona Balfe)—to allow them to leave Belfast for another country entirely for their own safety. She resists for an array of reasons that get uncovered throughout the film.

The Troubles is an intriguing conflict, and one that this movie fails to tackle really at all. Opening with the literal burning of homes, Belfast continues its story elsewhere, maintaining a rosecolored perspective of childhood in a warring nation. With Buddy (and Branagh) and his family belonging, technically, to the attacking side, and never really shown interacting with Catholics, it’s difficult to properly assess the situation outside of how it indirectly affects a little boy.

Buddy doesn’t want to leave Belfast. He knows everyone in town and has just made some progress with his first crush. To him, in his

The Last Blockbuster:1091 Pictures/Belfast: Focus Features

the atmlast blockbuster (2020)

Morrison-filled soundtrack) are the lifeblood that keeps this film going, but Belfast may be a bit too personal of a project for Branagh who’s unable to take a step back when necessary.

Other than his undercooked themes about religion—which he addresses out of obligation and then abandons when convenient—the filmmaker plays it very safe, almost unafraid to touch his own past with an objective hand. All of the characters are ultimately good and each extremely likable. But Branagh says things in his own way, whether intentional or not. Ironically genteel, considering the context, the movie suggests there to be casualties on both sides of a war, but also that it’s okay if some people choose not to fight at all.

c+ small world, the pros of moving don’t outweigh the cons. But as a 9-year-old, his free will only extends so far. Things change for him, but only when they’re decided on by the adults around him. Really, the movie is about Buddy’s parents and the path they take to accepting the inevitable. Under the guise of a coming-of-age story, Belfast, conflict-wise, is more about the grown-ups and how they interpret the signs that the world throws at them, regardless of their own reservations.

Buddy’s father also owes a lot of debt. But keeping in line with the youthful vantage point, most of the details of the family’s financial troubles are inconsequential, since the end result is all that matters to Buddy. And yet, Branagh can’t help giving his own two cents, even if that means derailing the film’s own perspective. His myopic commentary on religion feels irrelevant and cursory, with an alien view of Catholicism entirely.

Attempting to have his cake and eat it too, the filmmaker sprinkles in his critiques amidst an otherwise anodyne tone to where the satire feels unwelcome and unsettling.

Badly color corrected rather than embedded into the canvas, the black and white palette feels more

of a stylistic crutch than it does an inspired decision. You can almost see Buddy’s world in full color—even literally a few times when the family adjourns to the local cinema, where our protagonist falls in love with movies in technicolor before our very eyes. The gimmick works if only to highlight the changing times and the escape found in Chitty Chitty Bang

The thoughtfully sweet dialogue and easygoing nostalgia are the lifeblood that keeps this film going, but Belfast may be a bit too personal of a project for Branagh who’s unable to take a step back when necessary.

Other Notable Releases Drive My Car

a No Time to Die

The Last Duel

b+ West Side Story

Bang or One Million B.C. (“Raquel Welch is a hell of an education”).

The thoughtfully sweet dialogue and easygoing nostalgia (and a Van

b

b-

pig

1 A Quiet Place Part II

5

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Drive My Car

2

6

Fatherhood

9

Nobody

3

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

Oxygen

7

Vicious Fun

10 8

Pig:Neon/Drive My Car:Bitters End/Nobody:Netflix/Cruella:Disney/A Quiet Place Part 2:Paramount/The Map of Tiny Perfect Things:Amazon/Oxygen:Netflix/King Richard:Warner Bros./Fatherhood:Netflix/Vicious Fun:Shudder

ethan’s top 10 MOVIES OF 2021 Cruella

4 King Richard

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SPOILER MAGAZINE

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W

Dolby Theater

ith the nominations for the Academy Awards coming out on February 8, there’s already a lot of buzz around who and what will get recognized. And with a whole year’s worth of movies (or ten month’s worth, as per this year’s irregular Marchthrough-December eligibility guidelines following the generous 14-month eligibility for 2020), watching all of the Oscar hopefuls in less than two months might feel like a daunting task for the average viewer. But with our help, you might get most of the big films out of the way long before the ceremony on March 27th.

If you want to get a head start on crossing out Oscar hopefuls, as well as beefing up your office pools, take a look at our list of some of the films we think might get a nod. This isn’t necessarily a surmise of the best movies of the year (A Quiet Place Part II isn’t included), but of ones that fit the mold and check the boxes that the Academy seems to look for. january 2022|

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MOVIES

MOVIES belfast

blue bayou

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

Being the Ricardo’s: Amazon/Belfast,The Card Counter, Blue Bayou:Focus Features/C’mon C’mon:A24/Coda:Apple

being the ricardos

Best Picture

Best Picture

Best Picture

Best Actress (Nicole Kidman)

Best Director (Kenneth Branagh)

Best Director (Justin Chon)

Best Actor (Javier Bardem)

Best Supporting Actress (Caitríona Balfe, Judi Dench)

Best Actor (Justin Chon)

Best Supporting Actress (Nina Arianda)

Best Supporting Actor (Ciarán Hinds)

Best Supporting Actor (J. K. Simmons)

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MOVIES c’mon c’mon

the card counter

coda

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

Best Picture

Best Picture

Best Picture

Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix)

Best Director (Paul Schrader)

Best Director (Sian Heder)

Best Supporting Actor (Woody Norman)

Best Actor (Oscar Isaac)

Best Supporting Actress (Marlee Matlin) Best Supporting Actor (Troy Kotsur)

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MOVIES

MOVIES Don’t Look Up

Drive My Car

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

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POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

Best Actor (Peter Dinklage) Best Supporting Actress (Haley Bennett)

Cyrano: United Artists/Don’t Look Up: Netflix/Drive My Car:Bitters End/Dune:HBO;Warner Bros./ Encounter: Amazon/The Eyes of Tammy Faye:Disney

Cyrano

Best Picture Best Director (Adam McKay) Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio)

Best Picture Best Director (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)

Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence) Best Supporting Actress (Meryl Streep) Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill)

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MOVIES Dune

Encounter

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

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Best Picture

Best Actor (Riz Ahmed)

Best Actress (Jessica Chastain)

Best Director (Denis Villeneuve)

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MOVIES

MOVIES The Green Knight

The Harder They Fall

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POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

Best Picture

The French Dispatch:Disney/Green Knight:A24/ The Harder They Fall: Netflix/House of Gucci:United Artists/The Humans:A24/King Richard: Warner Bros.

The French Dispatch

Best Picture

Best Picture Best Director (Jeymes Samuel) Best Actor (Jonathan Majors) Best Supporting Actress (Regina King)

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MOVIES House of Gucci

The Humans

King Richard

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POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

Best Picture Best Actress (Lady Gaga) Best Supporting Actor (Jared Leto)

Best Supporting Actor (Richard Jenkins) Best Supporting Actress (Jayne Houdyshell)

Best Picture Best Director (Reinaldo Marcus Green) Best Actor (Will Smith) Best Supporting Actress (Aunjanue Ellis) Best Supporting Actor (Jon Bernthal)

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MOVIES

MOVIES Licorice Pizza

The Lost Daughter

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Best Actress (Jodie Comer)

The Last Duel:20th Century Studios/Licorice Pizza:United Artists/The Lost Daughter:Netflix/Mass:Bleecker Street/Nightmare Alley:Disney/Parallel Mothers:Sony

The Last Duel

Best Picture

Best Picture

Best Director (Paul Thomas Anderson)

Best Director (Maggie Gyllenhaal)

Best Actress (Alana Haim)

Best Actress (Olivia Colman)

Best Supporting Actor (Bradley Cooper)

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MOVIES Mass

Nightmare Alley

Parallel Mothers

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Best Supporting Actress (Ann Dowd) Best Supporting Actor (Jason Isaacs)

Best Picture

Best Actress (Penelope Cruz)

Best Director (Guillermo del Toro) Best Actor (Bradley Cooper) Best Supporting Actress (Cate Blanchett) Best Supporting Actor (Willem Dafoe)

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MOVIES

MOVIES Pig

The Power of the Dog

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POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

Best Supporting Actress (Ruth Negga)

Passing: Netflix/Pig:Neon/Power of the Dog: Netflix/Red Rocket:A24/Respect:United Artists/Spencer:Neon;Topic Studios

Passing

Best Picture

Best Picture

Best Director (Michael Sarnoski)

Best Director (Jane Campion)

Best Actor (Nicolas Cage) Best Supporting Actor (Alex Wolff)

Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch) Best Supporting Actress (Kirsten Dunst) Best Supporting Actor (Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jesse Plemons)

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MOVIES Red Rocket

Respect

Spencer

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

Best Picture Best Director (Sean Baker)

Best Actress (Jennifer Hudson) Best Supporting Actor (Marlon Wayans)

Best Picture Best Actress (Kristen Stewart)

Best Actor (Simon Rex)

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MOVIES Swan Song

The Tender Bar

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

Best Picture

Stillwater:Focus Features/Swan Song:Apple/Tender Bar:Amazon/Tick Tick Boom:Netflix/ Tragedy of Macbeth:Apple;A24/West Side Story:20th Century Studios

Stillwater

Best Picture

Best Picture

Best Director (Benjamin Cleary)

Best Director (George Clooney)

Best Actress (Naomie Harris)

Best Supporting Actor (Daniel Ranieri)

Best Actor (Mahershala Ali) Best Supporting Actress (Glenn Close)

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The Tragedy of Macbeth

West Side Story

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES:

Best Picture

Best Picture

Best Picture

Best Director (Lin-Manuel Miranda)

Best Director (Joel Coen)

Best Director (Steven Spielberg)

Best Actor (Andrew Garfield)

Best Actress (Frances McDormand) Best Actor (Denzel Washington) Best Supporting Actor (Corey Hawkins)

Best Actress (Rachel Zegler) Best Actor (Ansel Elgort) Best Supporting Actress (Ariana DeBose, Rita Moreno) Best Supporting Actor (Mike Faist)

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teen heroes on SyFy’s Day of the Dead is Mayor Paula Bowman, who’s about as complex a character as the series has. Miranda Frigon plays the money-hungry town leader with a fun arc. And as the first season progresses, she slowly becomes a fan favorite.

Spanning over two decades, Miranda’s career in film and TV has also included spots on Dexter, V, Heartland, and most recently Aurora Teagarden Mysteries. However, the polymath has been singing and songwriting for just as long, with her catchy tunes featured in countless shows and movies over the years.

Miranda sits down with Galaxy to talk about how she got her start doing soundtrack music, the journey to landing her role on Day of the Dead, as well as her 11 years spent in Los Angeles’ MMA scene.

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Miranda Frigon:Odessy Barbu(cover image):Miranda Frigon:Odessy Barbu

AMIDST THE STAGGERING ZOMBIES AND THE QUIRKY

erview erview SPOILER: You did MMA for 11 years?

MIRANDA FRIGON: Yeah, it was awesome! When I moved over to LA, it was like this new community I sort of joined. My dad was a boxer and a wrestler growing up and he would teach me and my sister wrestling moves. That’s how we bonded. And I just loved it. I felt so empowered when I was doing it. So I ended up training at a place called the Bomb Squad, and it was when not a lot of women were doing it.

It was where Eddie Bravo and Joe Rogan trained. And then we moved over to a place called Legends MMA, which was Randy Couture and Bas Rutten’s gym that they started. A lot of the MMA and UFC fighters would train there. It was just this community; we all hung out with each other. I was there five hours a day. It was insane. Best shape of my life. But then I got a little injured, so I had to take a step back from it.

SPOILER: Those are some great fighters. Even just the training aspect of it was probably great.

MIRANDA FRIGON: That’s what I loved. I had a couple of my female friends who started taking fights, and one of them broke her nose

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and one of them broke her arm.

And I was like, “I think I’m good. I think I’m just gonna train.” [laughs] I don’t need to prove that. It wasn’t so much for winning or any of that.

It was more the training and the community that I loved about it.

SPOILER: Well, I saw you on Day of the Dead and you look ripped as the mayor. Was a lot of that character you?

MIRANDA FRIGON: [laughs] I typically play these types of characters. I’m often with a gun. I’m either the police chief or the mayor or the CEO or the shark lawyer. I’m not those characters, but I have elements of them for sure. I’m extremely determined. I’m fearless when it comes to confrontations— not that I’m a person who loves confrontations with people, but I have no problem standing up for others or myself. I have an edge and a fire to me that, I guess, play out in these characters. So, I’m not making the bad choices that they’re making, but energy-wise I’m similar to them in some way. I’m like a chihuahua. I definitely think I’m bigger than I actually am.

SPOILER: Mighty Mouse.

MIRANDA FRIGON: Yes! That’s

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actually a nickname that’s been thrown at me in the past.

SPOILER: There’s so much acting talent in Canada, people don’t even realize.

MIRANDA FRIGON: Oh my gosh!

There’s so much talent in Canada.

Pre-COVID, for some of the lead roles, they’d always fly in the Americans. And we’re like, “Well, we got our people here.” But it was the whole “it has to be an American” thing. But with COVID, they weren’t casting as many Americans because of the whole quarantine process when bringing them in. So a lot of fantastic Canadian actors started getting more opportunities for parts we wouldn’t normally play. Research your favorite actors because a lot of them are Canucks.

SPOILER: Why did they want Americans in their lead roles?

MIRANDA FRIGON: It’s interesting.

We’ve dealt with this a lot as Canadian actors, where we can do the best audition and be the best actor, but they’ll bring in an American because that person did this show or that show. They just like having the Americans in [those roles]. We’re considered less-than sometimes, I feel, as Canadians. We all sort of feel that way sometimes, even though we might be an equally good actor or even better.

SPOILER: But it should be about the acting, right?

MIRANDA FRIGON: Yeah, but it’s not about that anymore. Literally some producers will look at your Instagram or Twitter and see how many followers you have.

That matters now. It didn’t used to. You could just go in and do your work and do your best. And now it’s about followers on social media. And I get it, because it’s a popularity contest too. So, if you have more followers, it’s going to

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be more free advertising for the show. It makes sense, but it’s not always fair.

SPOILER: You write a lot of love songs.

Where does that come from?

SPOILER: You’re also a great singer and songwriter. And you’ve had a lot of songs placed in shows and movies.

What inspires your music?

MIRANDA FRIGON: Well, I typically write songs for myself and my fans.

They come from moments of struggle in my life or moments of inspiration.

And I produce or co-produce a lot of my own music. I play a lot of guitar and piano, so I go in the studio and lay down the tracks. I have stuff on iTunes and Amazon and Spotify. But then, I eventually started placing songs in film and TV. It first happened on a sci-fi series called Jake 2.0 many, many years ago. I was a recurring character, but I ended up doing every episode. But that character was only in a couple scenes per episode, so I had a lot of time where I sat in my trailer and I would bring my guitar and play around in there. I always loved writing songs for other people’s stories. And so, I wrote a couple songs about the two leads, their love story in the show. I recorded it acoustically and played it in the hair and makeup trailer one day, and a couple of the leads were like, “You wrote this? This is crazy!” They sent it to a couple of the producers. Then I got a call from Paramount and they were like, “We’d like to place two of your songs in the show.” And they paid me a bunch of money—I’ve played in cafes and bars and made $25 in tips in like, two hours [laughs]. That was the beginning of me placing music. Before that, I wasn’t writing specifically for film and TV, which now sometimes I do.

I have one director friend, Christie Will, who started placing my songs in a lot of the Hallmark stuff. And now I have songs in about 20 movies. Now it’s a fun side thing for me that’s another creative avenue, and it’s there for me in my downtime or whenever I’m struggling or inspired. Acting is so different. It’s someone else’s words on the page. But music comes from inside me.

MIRANDA FRIGON: It’s universal. We all deal with it.

Falling in love, falling out of love. Being in the moments of bliss in the first part of the relationship and also being in the dark moments where you’re trying to grow. They’re not all happy love songs. My song “Invisible,” that was a tough moment. My husband— we were dating at the time and he was walking away from me. I didn’t feel seen or heard; I felt invisible. I remember that day he left, and I sat down on the piano and that’s the song I wrote.

SPOILER: What made you want to do Day of the Dead?

MIRANDA FRIGON: I auditioned for this role months and months before I found out I was on hold for it. I loved the character. I connected with her. She was dark and witty and edgy and tough.

I was like, “I have to play this role!” I saw the breakdown for it, but I didn’t think I was what they were looking for. I even reached out to my agent and said, “This is something I would love to audition for.” She said, “I submitted you and they didn’t see you for [the role].” I asked if she could ask again. I know the casting director really well, she actually cast me in Aurora Teagarden Mysteries. She’s lovely. Her name is Candice Elzinga. And she actually saw me for the role, so I taped the audition from LA. Like most auditions, you tape it or send it into the universe and you just forget about it because you mostly get nos. You don’t book everything you audition for. Months later, I was up in Canada doing a movie. And I found

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out I was on hold in the middle of COVID and got stuck up there for five months. And so I chose [to take the role].

SPOILER: You really take over in the show. Was Paula written that way?

MIRANDA FRIGON: Yes, all the episodes were written that way, so we knew what was gonna happen. I started off as this gun-loving, onlycare-about-money-and-votes-andpower mayor who, over the course of the next 24 hours, looks at how her views and her choices have affected the life of her son and the world around her. So, during that day she goes through this awakening and remembers who she really is and why she started doing this in the first place.

I love characters who have a dark side to them because there’s always a reason. There’s always some sort of pain or brokenness underneath these characters that drives them to do what they do. They’re characters that people hate, but I love them. I got to play such a range of emotions with such a cool character arc over the series, being the mama bear and trying to save the day.

SPOILER: Did you ever think you’d be in a zombie series?

MIRANDA FRIGON: I never thought I would. It’s totally not my genre.

I don’t watch zombie movies. But shows come out of nowhere and you think, “Oh! That’s a cool idea!” And next thing you know, you’re on the show. The zombies and the gore are not my thing, but I had a blast doing it. It was so much fun!

SPOILER: Is it greenlit for a season 2?

MIRANDA FRIGON: We have no idea. We just finished and that’s it.

You just sort of move on with your life. If something happens, then that’s cool, but I’m never married to any of that. I don’t sit around waiting.

SPOILER: Christopher Russell plays your husband on the show. He’s been featured in our magazine and he’s such a great guy.

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MIRANDA FRIGON: He’s alright [laughs]. No, he’s a great guy. It’s funny, the movie I was filming up in Canada, I was doing with him. And we both found out about getting [Day of the Dead] while we were on set. He’ll tell the story that I was trying to read his email over his shoulder, which isn’t true—but it’s sort of true, because I was standing behind him and saw, “Day of the Dead,” in the subject of his email. And I said, “Oh! Did you read for that too??”

And he kind of looked at me like I had invaded his privacy and it became a joke for the rest of the movie. But we were both waiting to find out while we were on that movie and then both booked it while we were filming. So, it was pretty cool because we already connected and liked working with each other, and it turned into a really cool dynamic on the show.

SPOILER: Have a lot of people reached out to you because of this role?

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Miranda Frigon:Odessy Barbu;Natalia Anja

SPOILER: What’s next for you?

MIRANDA FRIGON: I worked so much last year that I kind of needed a break. It’s sorta like the universe is open. I have some new music I’m working on. I have a show that I’m pitching in the design world with my friend Marilu Henner. Beyond that, I’m waiting for the next awesome thing.

MIRANDA FRIGON: Actually, no. I’ve had people who said they saw me, but it hasn’t been this overwhelming thing [laughs]. I do have people on Instagram who post and say, “I love you! You’re my favorite character!”

At a young age, I started acting and I truly loved it, but I was always waiting for that validation. But I learned early on that if you keep waiting on that, you rely on it for your identity, so then, if you don’t get it, it kind of breaks you a little bit. I just wanted

to feel good about the work that I did without needing those things. But it does feel good when people reach out. It’s more validating when people say, “I love what you had to say. I love when you share your struggle.”

SPOILER: Marvel or DC? MIRANDA FRIGON: I think I’d have to go with Marvel. But if either of them call me and say they love for me to play their next superhero, I would do either.

SPOILER: What kind of show is it?

MIRANDA FRIGON: It’s in the reality world, in the design market. I also do interior design. When I was pregnant with my daughter—I can’t sit still, and I have to be creating every second—I decided to go back to school and I got my interior design degree. I love doing kids’ rooms and nurseries, and this show is centered around that, but I won’t give too much information. I also have some other shows that I’m developing based on my own ideas.

SPOILER: Is there anything you wanna tell your fans?

MIRANDA FRIGON: Yes! I’m all about spreading kindness, living in acceptance of where the world is right now, and finding a way to spread your light and your talents, even amidst all of this struggle.

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One of the coolest dudes in this industry, Aleks Paunovic might just be your favorite actor’s favorite actor. We’ve talked to a lot of celebrities in and around his circle for years, and they all have unbelievably fantastic things to say about the Winnipeg native. Landing his biggest role yet as Ivan—an enforcer for the Tracksuit Mafia—in Marvel’s Hawkeye, Aleks still doesn’t count his chips the same way you’d expect. For him, it’s all about the experience and working with amazing people.

That said, 2021 was a huge year for the actor, with the release of the aforementioned Disney Plus show, the series finale for Syfy’s Van Helsing, and one heck of a second season for the TNT hit Snowpiercer. Oh yeah, and he got to co-star in a movie alongside one of the greatest talents of all time in Anthony Hopkins. Zero Contact, in which Aleks just finished filming the second of three installments, was filmed entirely through Zoom during the pandemic, set in 12 countries.

The sequel sees the actors actually going to those 12 locations across the globe—most notably the South Pole itself.

Always a big supporter of our magazine, Aleks chats yet again with Galaxy about his upcoming projects— and some past favorites as well— and also what it’s like to become immortalized in the MCU.

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erview erview SPOILER: Congratulations on Hawkeye! It’s fantastic.

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: Thanks, man!

It’s a blast to be a part of. And being part of the MCU is a really big deal.

Every kid reading comic books has that vibe on wanting to be part of that imaginary world—I’m a part of it right now. I’m still a big kid at heart and a lot of my adult friends feel the same way. It’s seriously just an honor to be part of the MCU and such a great, fun Christmas show.

Aleks Paunovic: Isaac Alvarez/ The Walt Disney Studios

SPOILER: How would you explain the series?

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: Hawkeye [played by Jeremy Renner] is part of the Avengers, and what I’ve always loved about his character is that he’s an ordinary man. He doesn’t have all these superpowers. He has will and heart and technique in something that he does extremely well, which is archery. And he was always a reluctant hero. I love those human stories. So, for

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Disney and Marvel to give him his own show—and I’m a huge fan of Jeremy Renner’s work. He’s just phenomenal, obviously in Hawkeye, but in so many other projects that he does. So knowing his story and the way that the series unfolded, and introducing Kate Bishop [played by Hailee Steinfeld] to kind of take the reins, and a new character Echo—it’s just an exciting thing to be a part of.

SPOILER: What was the process like for landing this role?

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: It’s interesting because Marvel was extremely secretive. There’s a lot of times where you’ll get auditions and it just says Untitled Project and a little bit of a breakdown of a character, and the names are changed so you can’t even try to figure it out.

So, I was literally just reading for this cool scene and sent it back to my manager and agent. It was obviously something that was very

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important, so I put my spin on my character and next thing I knew, I got the call that I booked a Marvel show. And I didn’t even know what they were talking about. I was like, “What do you mean I booked a Marvel show?” I didn’t even remember doing the audition, and then they told me, and I was like, “Wait! That was Hawkeye?!” And so the excitement happened after the fact, which is kind of nice because the pressure wasn’t on when I was auditioning for the role.

SPOILER: What does this mean for you?

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: It’s a huge thing! I’ve been a comic book fan since I was a kid. My brother was a huge collector of comics to the point where he would buy number ones and keep them in mint condition in their wrappers and would never let me touch it, but I would go through his comics behind his back when he wasn’t around [laughs]. But what it means to be a part of something so big— Kevin Feige, who I think is just an absolute genius in how he just literally spits out hit after hit with his Marvel team, Trinh Tran and all the people with Marvel and Disney Plus who are making these amazing series. I’m very grateful and can’t wait to see what happens next.

SPOILER: Describe your character in Hawkeye.

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: I play Ivan, who was actually in the original Matt Fraction comic books for Hawkeye.

It was great to play a character from the comic books. So, reading the comics and getting an idea of what kind of character he was and loving the chemistry, and the way the Tracksuit Mafia was written—how they use bro all the time. Carlos [Navarro] and Piotr [Adamczyk], who play my buddies on the show, we took the bros to the next level.

We would throw bros everywhere.

There were moments when the

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SPOILER: Van Helsing was on for five seasons. Do you feel like you grew over that time?

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: I was so stoked to be a part of Van Helsing. I’m honored to be part of that show. I feel like things just keep moving and keep growing. I’m always looking for something new. I’m just a big fan of saying yes to stuff and seeing where it goes. If I don’t enjoy it, I still learn from it. And sometimes I say yes and it doesn’t feel good to say yes, but then it ends up being one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Jeremy Renner said it perfectly. We were sitting in the makeup chair. The MCU is very secretive because they want the fans to see the authentic version of what’s going on and not hear spoilers. I was looking at Jeremy going, “I never got a script. I don’t know what I’m doing in the next scene.” And Jeremy just looked over at me all chill and went, “Just be water, man. Kevin Feige’s a master.

Just roll with the flow.” He reminded me of that, and that’s how I love to do my work. That was a really cool moment for me. So yeah, I feel like a lot of things have changed, but also a lot of things have reminded me why I do this.

SPOILER: You’ve come a long way since Karate Dad in [the 2012 movie] This Means War.

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Aleks Paunovic:Justina Mintz/TNT/ Isaac Alvarez/ The Walt Disney Studios

directors would come up to us and go, “Okay, we got that take, but maybe a little less ‘bros.’”

It was also a lot of fun for the crew because there was a lot of improv thrown out there along with the amazing writing. But they allowed us to play a little bit more.

So having the cast and crew crack up at some of the antics we were doing, it was an amazing experience to the point where Bert & Bertie—who are phenomenal directors—whenever the Tracksuit Mafia were coming on set to shoot, they would have their Tracksuit Mafia suits on as well as a fist pump to us. It was just fun knowing that everyone really took to what we were doing. It felt great accomplishing the vision.

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: [laughs] Listen, man, I’m not gonna lie, that was one of my favorite things because I improvised all that stuff.

When I did the audition, they had the lines, but I was literally going from one job to the other and I only had 5 minutes to throw this audition on tape. So I improvised the whole thing. When I booked it, I couldn’t believe it. But then all the improv and working

with Tom Hardy was great, and getting to slap his face [laughs] and just play around for something that was so small in the movie, was one of my funnest gigs.

But yes, I’ve come a long way since Karate Dad! SPOILER: What do you do to prepare for your roles?

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: I have to find the truth within myself to play these types of roles. There’s always a little bit of myself within these roles—my life experiences or what I’ve seen. I observe other people a lot and I try

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that’s a team. But on set, you’re working with gaffers and focus pullers and camera assistants and DPs and the director. You’re working with so many people. And I love bouncing ideas off of my castmates.

I’m very extroverted in my work and I think that gets me to work with a lot of people that I really wanna work with. First and foremost, just love the people that you work with.

to figure out, “Okay, the way this person reacted to this bad news is so different than if I read it in a script and how I would react.” That’s part of my homework and something that I’ve done since I was a kid. I just love watching people and observing different intentions and different reactions, and how somebody gets good news and how somebody gets bad news, and where emotion lies and tells the story. So, I steal these moments in life and try to connect to them any way that I can.

I also do vocal warmups before I get on set. Usually when I’m doing an accent, I’ll try to talk the whole day with the accent intact. One of my favorite things to do is get into a taxi or an Uber as somebody totally different. I’ll just decide to be a dude from the Bronx and start a conversation in a cab in Toronto, and just see if I can pull it off and have this conversation with somebody. I love experimenting in those types of ways. Also, script analysis is a big thing for me. What can I find within this script that I can pull from and put it in my back pocket? When I have my wardrobe on, I’ll try to find something that’s personal that I have that I’ll literally put in my pocket; something that I fight for. I do play the baddies a lot, which are really fun, but I’ll find something that I keep [for sentimental reasons]. And if anyone tries to take that thing from

me, this character with a backstory that I built will do different things to protect what’s in his pocket.

I think it all starts with doing the work, remembering the lines back and forth, script analysis, and just experimenting—throwing everything into the wind and not feeling dumb if something doesn’t work. Your choice for the character might not work, but the only way you’ll find out is going 100% that direction and then going back and exploring the role a little bit more. I just love being part of a team.

I was in a metal band for a long time.

And when you’re making music,

SPOILER: Your résumé is already so impressive, and now you’re leveling up once again with these new projects!

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: Thanks, man.

I’ve been really fortunate to be part of some amazing productions, but I would be just as happy working with great people on a student film or an indie. I just love to work and working with a good team, regardless of the hierarchy of the project. So, to be part of a bigger universe with a bigger budget is all gravy to me.

But it’s also peaks and valleys, man. Sometimes you’re just not confident in yourself, and I think the best thing to look at is knowing that it’s not a journey if you’re going down a straight line. You know what the top feels like and you know what the bottom feels like, but also know that you can get out of that bottom—

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the peak’s coming up. We all have to go through these mental health issues where we feel down about ourselves and figure out what’s wrong and try to stay positive. Be kind to yourself.

SPOILER: Do you feel like being on Hawkeye has opened the door for you in a big way?

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: It’s interesting because I really don’t look at it that way. Because every turn that I’ve been taking has been just a little bit better than the last, production-wise.

I’m working on a project right now with a couple of the writers from Van Helsing—Matt Venables and Jeremy Smith. They’re award-winning writers.

For me to be able to hire them and work with them is key to me. I spent five years with them and I know what they’re like. They’re so amazing on set. When we talk about this script, it’s not a head-butting thing. So for me, those are the things that get me really excited. This big project, which I can’t talk about yet, is just as much a surprise to me as any of the other ones.

My biggest joy right now is being able to be part of something special—I spent 20 days in Antarctica for a film that’s the sequel for the very first Hollywood-scripted NFT film ever made, called Zero Contact, starring Anthony Hopkins. And because it did so well, we’re now making a second and third film—we’re making it into a franchise. We’re also the very first Hollywood-scripted film production to shoot in the continent of Antarctica, and that to me is very special. So, it’s hard for me to put an idea in my head about the next big thing.

SPOILER: What was that experience like, filming in Antarctica?

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: We had a documentary crew following us because it’s such a unique experience into filmmaking. But it was tough.

I think we brought 80,000 hand warmers and toe warmers for our crew of 15, because we also need to

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keep the cameras warm. We put all these hand warmers in the camera cases. You can only film for a number of minutes before the camera goes back in. Some of the actors had some scenes where we really wanted to see their eyes, because everything is about the goggles. We had a polar explorer with us who led our film crew expedition—Sebastian Copeland—he said you take off your goggles and you maybe have two minutes, max, before you start getting snow blindness.

The universe was really helping us with the weather in some moments— intimate scenes—when we needed it quiet, even though it was cold. And then other moments, it was the worst weather that they’ve had at Union Glacier, so we got to take advantage of these amazing whispering winds, walking on top of a tidal wave of a snowbank—a desert of snow everywhere. It felt like we were on another planet. Even landing the plane, there’s no airport, so we just literally landed on ice. It was such an amazing experience and something that will never leave me, regardless of where this movie goes. I think it’s gonna be great.

SPOILER: Wow. How did you get involved on this project?

ALEKS PAUNOVIC: Rick Dugdale, who’s the mastermind, directing and producing, I worked with him on the very first Anthony Hopkins project I did called Blackway, years ago. And then when COVID hit, he had an idea to do just a Zoom movie. We like to say this movie was done without a handshake. We had 19 characters in 19 different places all over the world, doing a Zoom movie. So, from the success of that as an NFT film, we kinda turned it on its head for the sequel. Instead of just a Zoom, we’re actually going to the countries that are in the script. There are 12 countries.

We didn’t want to do it on a green screen, we wanted to actually go to these places. It’s something that was extremely special.

Aleks Paunovic: Isaac Alvarez/ The Walt Disney Studios

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Writer: Sam Hamm | Artist: Joe Quinones | Colorist: Leonardo Ito

what’s it about?

Someone’s hot on Bruce Wayne’s heels, out to prove his connection to Batman once and for all! Meanwhile, Harvey Dent plans his next steps for Gotham with just the simple flip of a coin. What does he have in store for Gotham, and can Batman twist probability in his favor? (from DC Comics)

the GOOD

This limited series both captures the look and feel of the Tim Burtondirected Batman movies while simultaneously adding elements that expand upon them. Drake Winston, this universe’s Robin, and Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face, make their full-fledged debut in this issue. Two-Face is genuinely wellconstructed in both writing and appearance. I lament that we never received a big screen adaptation of Harvey Dent’s transformation from “shining knight” to villain with Billy Dee Williams. Drake’s relationship with Bruce is entertaining. I even caught myself smiling a few times at their back-and-forth retorts. The

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cast of characters is vast, but writer Sam Hamm does a masterful job balancing them with the main story; everyone has a purpose, and no one seems out of place or forced into the narrative.

the bad

If you’re looking for Batman ‘89 to be true to the spirit of the Tim Burton films, you’ll be a bit disappointed. While the series does have the look and feel of the movies, it has a more modern heart. This book is trying its best to confront real-world issues, like civil injustice and racial inequality, but in a series created to capitalize on its audience’s nostalgia, the weight of the civil unrest angle is lost. The only other gripe I have with issue #4 is a quasi-fight scene between Drake and Bruce that feels rushed, out of place, and like a weak excuse for character development, albeit ending on a clever note. There are two more issues left in this series, but I’m hoping to see more of Drake Winston and Harvey Dent in the future.

SCORE

8.0/10

Batman ‘89:DC/Buffy The Last Vampire Slayer:Boom!

Studios

BATMAN ’89 #4

COMIC BOOK REVIEW |

BUFFY THE LAST VAMPIRE SLAYER #1 Writer: Casey Gilly | Artist: Joe Jaro | Colorist: Joana Lafuente in the form of a prophecy and the young girl who carries it. (from Boom! Studios)

THE GOOD

what’s it about?

Can a lone Slayer save what’s left of humanity? Buffy Summers is the last Slayer. Now in her 50s, she wages a one-woman fight against the forces of darkness, who prey on humanity in the daylight unimpeded thanks to a magical catastrophe that has nearly blotted out the sun. The same disaster robbed Buffy of her friends and ended the Slayer-line, forcing her into an endless guerilla war. That is, until she stumbles across something she hasn’t seen in a long time—hope,

My wife and I enjoyed the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series when it first aired. Casey Gilly must’ve been a fan as well because the writing in this issue perfectly captures the characters and their unique Joss Whedon-esque way of speaking. If Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Old Man Logan had a baby, this would be it. This book brings us into a future that, on the surface, presents a peaceful continuation of the world Buffy occupied: humans and vampires coexisting. However, the peace treaty that exists between the two seems uneasy at best. Buffy finds herself alone in the world, bitter, old, and even more sarcastic!

Joe Jaro’s art and Joana Lafuente’s coloring match beautifully together.

The atmosphere of this book doesn’t reflect the grim dystopian settings that we’ve come to expect from future tales like Old Man Hawkeye and The Last Ronin.

THE BAD

If you’re a fan of the series, whether it be in television, novel, or comic book form, you’ll love this book. I’m a big fan of the TV show, so I’m not walking in completely oblivious to the core elements of the Buffyverse.

If you’re a newcomer, you may have a difficult time enjoying this issue.

But let’s be honest, if you’re new, you’re not going to want to start here anyway. My only gripe about the art/ color is that halfway through the issue, it’s clearly stated that this is a world without sunshine, allowing vampires to walk freely—something that was lost on me, largely due to the coloring of the outdoor panels.

Other than that, this was a fine and fun book that fans will adore.

SCORE

8.5/10

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Writer: Chip Zdarsky | Artist: Marco Checchetto | Colorist: Marcio Menyz

what’s it about?

The story that’s been building for years is here! Wilson Fisk went from Kingpin to mayor of the biggest city in America and is going to bring his full criminal and political power to bear on the superheroes who call New York City home. The man who once destroyed Daredevil has set his sights on the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and more.

And since it’s Fisk, once he takes them all down, you know he’s going to sign it. Fisk has an army of super villains at his command—and this is just his opening salvo. For years, Fisk has waited for his time to strike, and you won’t believe the aces he’s got up his sleeves! (from Marvel Comics)

THE GOOD

Marvel’s New York-based heroes (of which there are many) are waging war on an unjust superhero registration as a politically corrupt Wilson Fisk sets his mind on national domination. Marco Checchetto’s art is out of this world. Devil’s Reign explores political corruption and the abuse of power that occurs when

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we let fear lead us. I’m experiencing “event book” fatigue as of late, especially with ones that feel rushed and whose cast feels forced, but that’s certainly not the case with this book. If you had told me this was an issue from the current Daredevil run, I’d absolutely believe it.

THE BAD

We’ve all seen this show before. Welcome to Marvel’s Civil War 2022. Admittedly, Wilson Fisk is a stupendous antagonist, and the art is simply phenomenal in this book from start to finish, so it may be easy to turn a blind eye to the repetition of the superhero registration, mind-altered secret identity angle, and pseudo-political nonsense. Chip Zdarsky really knows how to write Daredevil and Kingpin, so there’s a side of me that really wants to read what he’s putting out in this series, but wishes some of those tropes addressed earlier were put to bed so we can get a largely original story. On a

personal note, I can see why New Yorkers would accept someone like Wilson Fisk as their mayor due to his ability to keep his public and private lives separate, but how in the world do Marvel’s New Yorkers simply accept that Doc Ock, Rhino, Shocker, and a multitude of other baddies are on the side of public good after decades of debauchery? I guess they just “fuggedaboutit!”

SCORE

8.0/10

Devil’s Reign:Marvel/One-Star Squadron: DC

DEVIL’S REIGN #1

COMIC BOOK REVIEW |

ONE-STAR SQUADRON #1 Writer: Mark Russell | Artist: Steve Lieber | Colorist: Dave Stewart

what’s it about?

Who you gonna call? One-Star Squadron! Meet DC’s superhero team where heroism meets capitalism.

This ragtag group of heroes led

by Red Tornado is here to provide service with a smile. All you must do is send a request via their ondemand hero app and they’ll answer any call. Whether it’s a children’s birthday party or an alien invasion, no job is too small or too big! (from DC Comics)

THE GOOD

On the surface, this series focuses on a joke—or rather C-list superheroes considered to be jokes—by both the DC Universe and the readers. However, beyond that gimmick, you’ll find a very human story (or android story if you’re a Red Tornado fan) about finding your place in this world and the continuous search for identity and usefulness. Mark Russell gives a voice to a handful of characters that were, by and large, relegated to background fodder for decades. The art by Steve Lieber is light and bright and pairs nicely with the borderline-

dark tone of the despair these characters are hiding right below the surface. I definitely chuckled a few times at the visuals (the strip mall placement of the Squad’s HQ) and the writing (Power Girl pouring her heart out to Heckler, who not only doesn’t understand, but doesn’t care).

THE BAD

Other than seeing G.I. Robot in a blonde wig (an image I can’t get out of my mind), there’s not much to critique in this issue other than the inclusion of Power Girl, a character that can stand toe-to-toe with Superman. I found her out of place considering the encyclopedia of characters DC could have used instead. I’m a little biased in my love for series like this which give underdogs a second chance, but I can see why others might not like this book, its art, or its jokes. Lieber draws the characters perfectly for the tone of the story, but often the characters look like bad cosplayers rather than heroes with decades of history.

SCORE

8.5/10

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Titans United: DC/Dark Knights of Steel: DC

TITANS UNITED #1 Writer: Iolanda Zanfardino | Artist: Elisa Romboli | Colorist: Elisa Romboli

what’s it about?

A chaotic LGBTQ+ road trip! A workaholic scientist who wants to save the world and a woman who fears nothing but discovering her own destiny find themselves mixed up in a chaotic, on-the-road adventure through Europe. Will they manage to find a middle ground between their opposing ways of life— at least for long enough to complete their mission? And could this trip lead to an unexpected romance? (from Image Comics)

THE GOOD

A Thing Called Truth is a whole lotta fun from start to finish! Elisa Romboli’s chaotic art matches perfectly with Iolanda Zanfardino’s storytelling. The panel work is

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refreshing, defying the traditional elements in favor of experimental designs and it pays off. Dr. Mags is a far-from-perfect protagonist, which only makes her more endearing. The final act of the issue is most definitely where I found myself falling in love with the story. After reading some dark and dreary comics as of late, A Thing Called Truth was refreshing in its light-hearted and grounded approach.

THE BAD

The two major flaws of this book are its inability to properly establish its setting and the final splash page whose impact gets affected because of it. Our protagonist, Doctor Magdalene “Mag” Traumer wakes up to her car being jacked, with her in it, only to gasp in disbelief that she’s in Italy. I guess we just need to accept that Italy is far from wherever she was previously. While the story is fun, certain elements—mainly the nature of her job and her woes—are vague and glanced over quickly. I’m sure these ideas will be revisited or expanded upon in later issues, but here they’re too vague to keep my interest.

SCORE

9.0/10

COMIC BOOK REVIEW |

DARK KNIGHTS OF STEEL #2 Writer: Tom Taylor | Artist: Yasmine Putri | Colorist: Yasmine Putri

what’s it about?

An entire medieval world will be forever changed when a spaceship crash-lands from a doomed planet.

Monarchs will die, kingdoms will rise, and what seemed the end of the world for many…was only the beginning! An epic high-fantasy story set in a DC Universe where nothing is what it seems. (from DC Comics)

THE GOOD

Any book that includes a member of the Super Family saying, “It tickles,” is cool with me! Twenty years ago, a book like this would’ve been printed under the Elseworlds banner. Today, it functions as a twelve-issue limited series in which writer Tom Taylor has taken characters we’ve grown to know and love for over eight decades and given them new and intriguing dynamics presented as a fairy tale. Yasmine Putri’s art is wonderful. The characters are as beautifully rendered as the settings.

The relationships and dynamics are presented masterfully by Taylor, from King Pierce and his children to Batman and Harley to Wonder

Woman and Zala (Supergirl). I hope to see this series adapted into the DC Animated Movie Universe. It certainly has a cinematic quality.

THE BAD

Flash is locked in a castle dungeon?

He is? He can’t get out? ABSURD! Other than the frustration of seeing the Flash relegated to a prison in the Kingdom of El in a single panel of the issue, the critiques here are infinitesimal compared to the amazing work presented by Putri and Taylor. This book is full of emotion and complexity. I find it so odd that I don’t hear a lot of people talking about Dark Knights of Steel. DC needs to step up their game when it comes to promotion. If you’re sleeping on this series, now’s as good a time as any to jump on and enjoy the ride.

SCORE

9.5/10

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Writer: Donny Cates | Artist: Ryan Ottley | Colorist: Frank Martin

what’s it about?

Part 1 of 6: The uncontrollable rage of the Hulk has reached an all-new level, and nobody—including the Avengers—is prepared to handle it.

But is it really the Hulk that people should be afraid of, or is there something missing to this puzzle? (from Marvel Comics)

THE GOOD

The Immortal Hulk has ended, and Hulk rises up to take its place. This is a solid first issue, especially for fans who haven’t connected with the

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Green Goliath in some time. Ryan Ottley’s art is kinetic and engaging.

You can feel the Hulk and Banner’s rage and anger in his imagery. Donny Cates’ Hulk is vastly different from what we’ve seen in the last few years, but shows potential. The Avengers are pissed at Hulk for an undisclosed event in El Paso and they’re looking to take the Not So Jolly Green Giant down. The Hulk has other plans, which include leaving this world behind. Hulk is a character often defined by his internal struggle and it should come as no surprise that Cates reintegrated that aspect back into the storytelling. Although I lament the end of The Immortal Hulk series, I am anxious to see where Cates and Ottley take the character next.

THE BAD

I feel like I missed something prior to the launch of this series. When I last checked in on Bruce Banner, he was relatively at peace with the multitude of personalities the Hulk had manifested. The Bruce we’re seeing this time around is a scientist gone mad, a Hulk gone

savage; a relationship best defined as “Starship Hulk,” which is most definitely not at peace. I felt even more lost when, throughout the issue, references were made to an incident in El Paso involving the Hulk and potential casualties. I can only assume there was a time jump between this issue and the previous Immortal Hulk series that will be explained further down the line, yet I can’t help but feel a bit frustrated that Cates seems to be ignoring years of story building in what is arguably the best run the Hulk has ever had.

SCORE

8.5/10

Hulk,Thing: Marvel

HULK (2021) #1

COMIC BOOK REVIEW |

THE THING #1 Writer: Walter Mosley | Artist: Tom Reilly | Colorist: Jordan Bellaire

THE GOOD

what’s it about?

Renowned storyteller Walter Mosley brings his signature style to a sweeping saga of Yancy Street’s favorite son that will range from the urban sprawl of the back alleys of Manhattan to the farthest reaches of the cosmos itself! A lonely evening and a chance encounter (or is it?) sends Ben Grimm embarking on a sojourn that will have him encountering—and battling— figures both old and new. Featuring guest appearances from figures throughout the Marvel Universe as well as precision artwork by Tom Reilly, The Thing will remind audiences why the Thing is one of the most popular and beloved characters in the history of comics! (from Marvel Comics)

I love when characters synonymous with a large team get their own solo spotlights. The Thing is one of comic-dom’s most beloved figures and this issue shows us why: He’s a strong, wealthy, flawed, and worldly character afraid of being alone. In this timeline, set seemingly in the early ‘90s, Alicia pumps the brakes on their relationship after a jealous Thing accosts her in public, embarrassing himself, destroying property, and getting himself arrested. All the while, a dark presence has targeted the Thing.

I love Mosley’s take on the Ever Loving Thing and Reilly’s minimalist approach to the characters and setting. Mosley masterfully approaches the titular hero in a way that, despite his massive frame and strength, presents the Blue Eyed Behemoth in a truly relatable manner. The villain of the series, Mot, is intriguing, as is the guest appearance by Hercules, who seems to be aware of the curse that is following Ben.

This is the kind of story you get when writers get to incorporate decades’ worth of character lore, but shed the weight of continuity in favor of storytelling. Admittedly, the art and lettering takes some time to adjust to but, like the writing, its uniqueness is what makes the issue work. This book is light on exposition and text, so it relies heavily on the art to set the stage for what year we’re in and whether or not we are in a dream sequence or “reality.” With all that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book largely because—like I assume Mosley did—I can find myself relating to the Thing.

SCORE

9.5/10

THE BAD

Another excellent outing by Marvel.

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#8

Writer: Ivan Cohen | Artist: Dario Brizuela | Colorist: Franco Riesco

what’s it about?

The world’s greatest detectives— Batman and Mystery, Inc.—face a mysterious scheme concocted

by Harley Quinn and the Joker! A mysterious zillionaire has taken over Gotham’s waterfront. But what do Batman’s wildest foes and a supercharged ghost have to do with it? (from DC Comics)

the good

When I was just a little boy, my father would go out late on Saturday nights to pick up the early edition of the Sunday paper, candy for my brothers and me, and a comic book for each of us.

He would get me books primarily from the Archie series or ones starring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, mostly kiddie or young adult books. That’s where my love of comics began. Batman & Scooby-Doo! Mysteries brings back all that emotion: It’s a straight-up silly, fun book and doesn’t pretend to be anything else. I also enjoy my Batman smiling a little; a little Light Knight never hurt anyone.

The Batman we’ve seen most

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since 1988’s The Killing Joke is a glum hero. This book gives us a Super Friends-style Batman mixed with Mystery, Inc. and I’m loving it.

I gave this to my sixth-grade son and he loved it as well. I’m doing my part to keep the tradition alive.

the BAd

This issue may very well have been an episode of a Scooby-Doo cartoon guest starring Batman.

I’m not saying that’s a bad thing!

I love it. Although, the nerd in me is confused as to which Batman I’m getting here. The style and speech pattern screams Adam West. The vehicle design screams ‘70s Batman. The villains scream Batman: The Animated Series. I wish artist Dario Brizuela would have picked an era and stuck with it. That’s most definitely the nerdiest complaint I have ever made against a book!

SCORE

9.0/10

Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries: DC; Hanna Barbera; Warner Bros./ He Who Fights With Monsters:Ablaze Publishing

BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO! MYSTERIES

COMIC BOOK REVIEW |

HE WHO FIGHTS WITH MONSTERS #1 Writer: Francesco Artibani | Artist: Werther Dell’Edera | Colorist: Giovanni Niro

what’s it about?

On All Hallows’ Eve, a community struggles under the boot of the Nazi war machine when supernatural forces come to play a part in the conflict! From the artist of the bestselling Something is Killing the Children comes a Halloween tale that will send shivers up your spine. It’s World War II and the struggle between good and evil is in full force. In Prague, the great Bohemian city is being oppressed by the Nazi occupation and the population lives in terror, while the resistance forces try to organize themselves in the shadows. It is an almost impossible task. With the ruthless SS tightening their grip on every street and neighborhood with overwhelming might, only one hope feeds the struggle. A crazy hope, which rests on the fragile foundations of an ancient, monstrous legend. (from Ablaze Publishing)

THE GOOD

As a history teacher of over

two decades, I’m always on the lookout for great historical fiction.

He Who Fights With Monsters seems to be setting the stage for a fascinating World War II horror tale (although WWII was a horror tale in and of itself). Werther Dell’Edera’s art is so vivid and Giovanni Niro’s coloring perfectly encapsulates the feeling of dread and terror faced by millions in Nazi-controlled Europe. With most of the issue taking place at night or beneath ground in or near a cemetery, Niro’s colors and Dell’Edera’s art establish a deep sense of foreboding. The final pages of the story introduce us to the Gollum concept that I’m sure will carry this series as our protagonists try to keep their humanity in an inhumane time.

story. I read this issue quickly, and upon reading it again had almost completely forgotten that the first arc of the plot is not the same as the second and third arcs. I find that kind of storytelling to be needlessly convoluted and confusing.

I’m sure there will be a payoff in the interconnectedness of it all, but I wouldn’t recommend this technique to any writer, even one as skilled as Francesco Artibani.

SCORE

8.5/10

THE BAD

I love the concept of this story and am anxious to see how it plays out, but I’m not, nor have I ever been, a fan of the storywithin-a-story trope. This issue doubles down on that with a story within a story WITHIN a

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i don’t really have a set of criteria when i review movies. Sure, I always look at the writing, the directing, the acting, and the themes individually, among other things. Mostly, however, I want to know if the movie speaks to me. I’ve watched films that hit all the technical marks but are fundamentally flawed in other ways. Just like I’ve watched some that would be considered terrible by conventional standards, yet I could watch them over and over again.

But that’s art, isn’t it? Someone once told me, “It’s harder to justify why you love a movie than why you hate it.” And I suppose that’s the enigma that comes with anything we love.

It’s a challenge that authors and poets have always relished in trying to put into words. Because once we find the words to express why we love something, we feel like we can fly. And for those who don’t have a gifted pen, the writers can provide some sort of catharsis.

There are many reasons why critics are important. Traditionally and fundamentally, reading reviews helps the busy consumer narrow down the possible options for a rare Friday night outing. A 2019 survey

by Statista found that 46% of adult Americans go to the movies once a year or less, while only 14% go one or more times per month (prepandemic, of course). With more

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Siskel and Ebert:ABC;Disney/ Pauline Kael:Getty Images

BY ETHAN BREHM

content out there and less time to spend absorbing it, consumers want and deserve to know if something is worth their while.

That’s not to mention the money aspect required to enjoy any product. The reason we have less time to spend on art consumption is because of the time we spend making the money needed to consume it. Being critical of art and being obliged to spend money on it are not mutually exclusive. Someone panning a piece of work that is given out for free might be wasting their time, but as soon as a dollar sign is attached to that piece of work, anyone without the luxury of endless time and money should want to know if it’s worth those hard-earned dollars and the precious minutes they have to spare. Though in my experience, many people don’t read the actual reviews until after they’ve seen the movie. Those who are just looking for a quick way to determine what to watch on a date night likely

just glance at an article’s descriptive title or the rating at the bottom of the page (after all, if they’re short on time, they probably don’t want to read an 800-word disquisition).

FILM AS ART VS. FILM AS BUSINESS The preponderance of critics today is no doubt, in part, a result of the business side of art. You’re much less likely to find harsh criticism on a micro-budget indie that nobody’s seen than you are on a big budget blockbuster. The small-potatoes every-critic seeking out those niche projects is typically sympathetic towards the DIY process and the earnest creative pursuit, and most bigtime critics are much softer on those films for similar reasons, if they even publish a review at all.

Many times, our frustration with the product is a direct result of the amount of studio interference we

assume has affected its quality.

Similarly, a critic (or even a fan) will lambaste a big budget blockbuster if they feel it’s been overrated—which means the film probably already has fairly positive reviews to begin with. As critic Pauline Kael once said, “Movies, far more than the traditional arts, are tied to big money. Without a few independent critics, there’s nothing between the public and the advertisers.”

Making or breaking an actor or a director’s career in Hollywood will almost never be the result of an individual critic anymore, if it ever truly was. Viewers are now much more interested in aggregations on IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, or Letterboxd than they are with a single critic’s opinion, unless of course it’s a writer they really trust and rely on. Even legends such as Kael or Roger Ebert couldn’t typically sink a film. Kael famously harangued the likes of West Side Story, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Doctor Zhivago, all three of which were commercially and critically successful, nominated for a total of 25 Oscars amongst them (with 16 wins). Tangentially, Ebert essentially despised the pictures of Adam Sandler who, 30 years later, is still making movies at a clip of about one per year. Ebert also hated the indie hit The Usual Suspects, which went on to win two Academy Awards, grossing $23

million in North America off a wordof-mouth marketing campaign, and is considered to be a generational classic. A vast majority of critics loved the film, proving that even Roger Ebert—arguably the most powerful critic of the modern age, and maybe ever—couldn’t tear it down. It would be narrow-minded, even as a film critic myself, to think that a single opinion in this day and age can destroy (or even fast-track) a filmmaker’s career.

On the other hand, a good review can help an underrated or obscure movie find praise, recognition, or exposure. And if a critic is going to rave about what they love, they are expected to lament what they don’t. In fact, if you’re trying to be a Rotten Tomatoes “Certified Critic” or member of the Critics Choice Association, it will be very difficult if you’ve never written a bad review.

And if you’re a writer who wants to make any impact on the success of those underrated or obscure movies, then you’re missing out on some important outlets that would help get you exposure, along with the films and creatives you will undoubtedly help in the meantime.

EVERYONE’S A CRITIC

If the experts aren’t giving their feedback, then we end up just leaving the commentary to the masses—people on Amazon or Twitter, or the host of some random podcast who just wants to make their opinions known, whether or not it’s relevant to what their show is about or if they have knowledge on that subject; people with no credentials (not even the proverbial kind). We need professional critics for the very sake of there needing to be at least some structure.

Otherwise, it’s the wild and woolly West where the squeaky wheel always gets heard, whether there’s value there or not.

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Roger Ebert:AP;Carolyn Kaster/Pauline Kael:Getty/Jake Hills on Unsplash/Beyond the Peaks film festival/Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut:Gilbert Tourte

Sure, not every critic is going to be credible or good—in fact, many won’t be. After all, just because someone goes to school to be a teacher doesn’t make them a good teacher. You can have a meretricious job at some website or publication, but unless the person reading your articles can’t do so with objectivity and independent thought, you’re hardly going to make even the smallest wave to matter. It’s the very reason why, on an aggregate like Rotten Tomatoes or a guild such as the Critics Choice Association, there’s a very rigorous selection process.

If there were no professional critics, fans would still let their opinions be known. I once had someone tell me they weren’t going to see Captain Marvel because their friend (not a critic) said it was terrible. However, if they had looked at the Rotten Tomatoes score, they would have seen the “Certified Fresh” stamp of 79% (albeit a 45% audience score). Alternately, I had another friend who wouldn’t go see Marvel’s Logan, arguably the best movie the studio’s made so far, simply because he didn’t like the trailer. Now, if a trailer is going to appeal or not appeal to a certain person, shouldn’t that same person have the right to hear if the movie is worth seeing regardless?

There are instances, obviously, where no matter what critics or fans say, you’re going to see that movie or watch that show no matter what. Even if the reviews for The Mandalorian were terrible, I would have still sat down for the first episode simply based on the premise alone—and I don’t watch much television. I should mention that most movies that come out intrigue me at the very least, although I know I can’t possibly watch them all.

Just as in the tech sphere, there are people called “early adopters” who will buy the newest gadget or gizmo simply because they want to be the first to try it out.

At the end of the day, a true critic loves the art that they’re analyzing.

And they should actually want to enjoy everything they take in.

Critiquing something is a way of enlightening yourself on that very craft and opening the conversation to others, hopefully enlightening them in the process. If you love art, you owe it to that art to be critical.

After I began studying theory in college and started to understand what makes up the anatomy of a film, I noticed that when it came to the movies I always liked, I was now able to figure out why I liked them on both a structural and emotional level. And the ones I wasn’t so fond of, I was suddenly capable of dissecting them and figuring out why that was so. And on rare occasions, my new knowledge of filmmaking conventions allowed me to appreciate a movie that I wasn’t crazy about before. It’s not just grasping what’s good technique or bad—because, as I said, sometimes

it doesn’t matter—but having the verbiage to explain it.

Ultimately, I just like movies in general (and I’m easily entertained), so my own ratings always skew a bit higher than the average critic. I’ve always made it a requirement for myself in my reviews to talk about both the good and the bad (unless of course it’s flawless), because even the worst films have something good to be said about them. And any negative feedback may not only help a consumer decide if they want to spend their time and money on watching that movie, but can also serve to educate and inform those who have watched it.

CHALLENGING THE ARTIST Take the mid-century guild of French critics, whose members include the likes of Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, who believed discourse to be a necessity for film criticism and a requisite for the medium’s advancement as they challenged conventional approaches and the filmmakers who employed them.

Many of these writers, including the two I just mentioned, were driven to make plenty of their own movies because of their unique opinions and overall appreciation of motion pictures (Godard with the likes of his groundbreaking feature-length debut, Breathless, and Truffaut with the equally-groundbreaking The 400 Blows, among others), evolving the medium in such a way that they sparked an entire New Wave revolution in France, and helped inspire a subsequent one in Hollywood—an industry that had previously been facing huge financial losses—putting the final nail in the coffin of the studio system and ultimately giving the art back to the artists.

Of course filmmakers want positive reviews, but if they’re playing that game, they have to be willing to

accept the negative feedback as well.

The very act of releasing a finished product and asking people to pay for its consumption is an open invitation for the consumer to express their approval or disapproval of that product. Some movies might be the result of years of hard work and thousands, if not millions of dollars of a filmmaker’s own money behind it, but any practical person will also recognize that making movies is a big risk. And while the rewards might be great, the failures can be worse.

You make that gamble, and you take the good with the bad, because if you want to benefit from the rave reviews, you have to be willing to accept that the feedback may just as easily go the other way. After all, if everyone blindly accepted every collaborative piece of art as “worthy of praise” simply because of the

supposed inspiration behind them, it would be neither rewarding nor helpful for the people who made them or those who want to learn about the art itself.

From my experience, writers, directors, and actors alike appreciate honest feedback as long as it’s not mean or laced with ad hominem.

Just like if you show your best friend a new song or essay you’ve been working on, you’d like them to give their sincere opinion. And personally, I do have one blanket rule: No critiquing child actors unless what I have to say is entirely positive.

If you’re an artist who wants to make a living, yet gets offended by constructive criticism, then you’re in the wrong field. But seeking approval, on some level, is also important as an artist. It pressures you to make prudent decisions and reminds you to connect with those who are taking in your work. When an artist loses his or her need for the approval of an audience, he or she can get lost in their own world, making self-indulgent pieces for themselves only (whether driven by ego or money), with very little connection to the people viewing it.

Once you make art, it no longer belongs to you; it’s for the world to enjoy or, at the very least, to analyze.

And to relegate any expressive critique as the “crusher of dreams” is to not truly understand what art is in the first place, much like playing the part of the “dream crusher” simply because you’re a critic is to not grasp what it means to be one.

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WHO TO TRUST?

I always say, “You see more movies if you don’t write about them, but you watch more movies if you do.”

I’ve seen a lot of films, and I would have seen a heck of a lot more if I hadn’t written about nearly each one of them over the past eight years. When you’re in a position to analyze everything, you end up doing just that. Most critics have not only watched more of their medium than the average person, but have examined it and written about it and thought about it—not to mention studied it. Anyone could sit down and watch 2,000 movies, but if there’s no methodology or meditation that transpires afterwards, then all you have is watercooler ammo.

Critics in art can be a source of contention. And yet, there will always be partiality, whether it’s by the critic or the consumer. There are two types of people in this world: those who have a bias and those who try to hide it. But that’s the value of diverse and independent thought, isn’t it? Because the more people who believe that thought is or should be unified, the more people will take issues with critics. It’s hard to believe there is more than one opinion out there that’s valuable, but of course there is. I believe that this is why there’s even more of a craving of attention for our voices now—to prove to others and ourselves that we actually have unique things to say in a world that tries to force us all to think the same.

In the internet age, film critiques have never been more democratic, and that’s a good thing. It doesn’t give the professional critic less power, but challenges the reader to dig deeper past the singular letter grade at the bottom. I never once

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write a review hoping that no one will read the content I’m providing. If you really want to know what I think about a movie you have to read the whole thing. A “B+” means nothing if you don’t find out why it deserves that grade.

I know it’s hard when you have Google and their algorithms selecting which reviews to put at the top of the search results, but that’s also why, if you really care, you gravitate towards a select few critics who you trust, or even a community of cinephiles.

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle—one of my favorites—is not someone I always agree with, but he’s still taught me a lot about both film and my own craft as a writer, especially when I was first starting out. If enough people like a critic and trust a critic, he or she will have earned the right to their eventual impact. After all, an opinion is one thing we’re all allowed to have and share.

If you do happen to be one of those people who hates critics, just know that you are one yourself— every time you tell your friend that you didn’t like a movie or a TV show or a play, you’re giving your review, and it might matter to them more than something they read on the internet or in a magazine. And they may relay your review to dozens of their own friends, and so on and so forth. But which part of the review will actually get communicated, the singular rating or the reasons behind it? For the busy consumer, it won’t matter, and that’s okay. And for those who truly love the art, they probably won’t give much credence to that sort of cursory opinion anyway. So now tell me, which type of critic has a more productive and valuable impact on cinema?

AMC Theaters

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