From Academy Award® winning writer/director Chloé Zhao, HAMNET tells the powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.
The film stars Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Joe Alwyn and Emily Watson and opens in St. Louis on December 5th.
Based on the novel by MAGGIE O’FARRELL, and produced by Liza Marshall, p.g.a., Pippa Harris, p.g.a., Nicolas Gonda, p.g.a., Sam Mendes, p.g.a., and Steven Spielberg, p.g.a., HAMNET won the Audience Choice Award for Best Film at the St. Louis International Film Festival.
Academy Award®-nominated actress Scarlett Johansson will play the lead role in director Mike Flanagan’s radical new take on The Exorcist for Blumhouse-Atomic Monster and Morgan Creek Entertainment for Universal Pictures. The film is set to shoot in New York City.
Johansson is a Tony and BAFTA-winning actress, producer, and director. Johansson’s directorial debut, Eleanor the Great, which she produced with her partners at These Pictures, had its world premiere at the 78th Cannes Film Festival and North American premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Johansson received her first two Academy Award nominations, for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for her performances in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, respectively, becoming the twelfth performer to be nominated for two Oscars in the same year. Her other notable acting credits include Jurassic World Rebirth, Asteroid City, Fly Me to the Moon, Black Widow, Lost in Translation, Avengers: Endgame,Avengers: Infinity War, Lucy, Underthe Skin, Ghost in the Shell, Isle of Dogs, Sing, Sing 2, and Her.
“Scarlett is a brilliant actress whose captivating performances always feel grounded and real, from genre films to summer blockbusters, and I couldn’t be happier to have her join this Exorcist film,” said Flanagan.
Johansson is represented by CAA, Yorn Levine LLC, and True Public Relations.
The film will tell an all-new story set in The Exorcist universe and is not a sequel to 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer. It is produced by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Morgan Creek Entertainment and Flanagan, who will also write and direct via his Red Room Pictures banner. Alexandra Magistro will also executive produce for Red Room Pictures. David Robinson produces for Morgan Creek Entertainment. Jason Blum and Ryan Turek serve as producer and executive producer for Blumhouse-Atomic Monster.
Flanagan is the visionary writer and director whose latest film, The Life of Chuck, recently won the coveted People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and continues to generate significant awards buzz. He most recently wrapped production on the Amazon MGM Studios TV adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel, Carrie.
He is also the filmmaker behind the acclaimed features Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game, as well as the creator of the hit series Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Hill House and The Fall of the House of Usher. Flanagan is represented by WME, VanderKloot Law and Bespoke Publicity.
A scene from British sci-fi comedy TIME TRAVEL IS DANGEROUS. Courtesy of Level 33 Entertainment
TIME TRAVEL IS DANGEROUS is a droll British sci-fi comedy is low budget, low key and low delivery, under-serving a high concept. Writer/director Chris Reading started with an amusing twist on the time-travel milieu. Two rather dim-witted women (Ruth Syratt and Megan Stevenson) who own a dowdy resale shop stumble across a small vehicle that was dumped in an alley by its disenchanted inventors, who never quite mastered its time-hopping capabilities. The ladies use it to snatch clothes and minor objects from earlier eras to upgrade the inventory of their failing business, filling the humble rented space to the rafters with relics of affordable consumer value. No heists. No cash grabs. Just stuff that wouldn’t be missed much by its owners.
The haul includes videotapes of a public-access version of Mr. Wizard starring two guys (Johnny Vegas and Kiell Smith-Bynoe) who happen to have been the machine’s inventors. They are now part of a club of eccentric wannabe inventors with what could have been a charming cast of oddballs. The right cast was in place, but without the right writing to let them shine.
Although the bones were there for a delightful romp, the script failed to deliver the goods. Some of the best-known actors – Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Jane Horrocks – were underutilized. What we end up with could have been called BILLIE AND TEDDIE’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, if the temporal sojourners weren’t named Ruth and Megan. Their visits to earlier times, ranging from the age of dinosaurs to recent decades, are among the film’s best moments. But they were too small a percentage of the running time. One long sequence in a sort of time-warp limbo was intriguing – as if an ALICE IN WONDERLAND style of encounter had been written and directed by Terry Gilliam.
Budget limitations are obvious, and perhaps should be used to cut this production more slack. Time-travel shows are inherently fraught with logical issues, even when played for laughs. This one avoided some of the usual traps, but became more annoying than engaging as events unfolded. Too much petty quibbling among, and bad decisions by, the principals for entertainment value.
TIME TRAVEL IS DANGEROUS opens in select theaters and on-demand on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.
There is unexpected depth in RENTAL FAMILY, a comedy/drama starring Brendan Fraser as an American actor living in Tokyo who takes a job with an agency that supplies actors to play a part in people’s lives. There are sweet moments but nothing saccharine in this a film that thoughtfully explores issues about identity, role-playing and self-deceit as well as human connections.
Odd as it seems, such rental agencies really do exist in Japan. Brendan Fraser gives a touching performance in RENTAL FAMILY, which is partly in English and partly Japanese with subtitles, as an American actor who has been living in Tokyo for seven years but still feels like an outsider. With work becoming sparse, the out-of-work American actor takes a one-time job with a company that provides its customers with people to play roles in their lives, such as a mourner at a funeral, or even impersonate someone in their lives. The company asks him to stay one but the actor is hesitant at first. He is persuaded to take the job when the business owner points out it is still acting, like improv, and that the service is helping people.
That is not always true, as the American finds out. Some of the assignments are short-term, but others are longer. In one such case, a single mother hires the actor to impersonate the American father her young daughter never met, in order to help her gifted daughter get into an exclusive school. In another, the daughter of an older Japanese movie star, who hires the American to play a journalist who has come to interview the once-famous, aged actor, who fears he has been forgotten. The one rule in the work is not to get too involved, which Fraser’s big-hearted character struggles with that at times. This charming, beautifully-shot drama, partly in English and partly in Japanese with subtitles, is mostly sweet, warm and sometimes even comic, but it also has some surprising, and even unsettling, food-for-thought moments, as well as offering reflections on identity, human connections and role-playing in our own lives.
While there is plenty of humor, there is also a poignancy to RENTAL FAMILY, as it explores issues around role-playing in our lives and human connections, There is a sweetness to but it is naver cloying or false in tone, and always grounded in real human connections.
RENTAL FAMILY, partly in English and partly Japanese with English subtitles, opens in theaters on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.
In this high-speed modern age, it’s hard to recall a time when much of the country was nearly inaccessible. No airports or interstate “super-highway” systems existed, just a little over a hundred years ago. Well, somebody had to “clear the way” for the ever-expanding US population as it headed west. So, what were these hard-toiling workers like, emotionally. What were their desires, and how did they carve out a life for themselves, and, eventually, their families? This new film, based on a recent celebrated literary work, tries to answer those questions as it focuses on one such man in the early part of the previous century. After several grueling hours of laying track, did he close his eyes, and drift away into a slumber filled with TRAIN DREAMS?
That laborer at the heart of this story is Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), who relates his humble beginnings as a young orphan arriving via train to Idaho in the late 19th century. Most of his early memories revolve around the railroad and the surrounding forests. He sees Chinese immigrant rail workers being driven out of town, and even gives a water-filled boot to a dying man near the bottom of a ravine. In his teenage years, he hops on to a locomotive that takes him far away from his adopted family, to Washington state. After a long stint as a logger, he settles in a small town and meets a lovely young woman at a church function. Robert and Gladys (Felicity Jones) begin a romance that culminates in marriage. They build a home near a stream on the edge of the woods far from their village. Robert is happy, but he’s haunted by dreams of an incident in which he failed to intervene in an attack on a Chinese co-worker. Soon the couple welcome a daughter, Kate. But Robert soon leaves once more, to work on the railway expansion hundreds of miles away. He keeps to himself, but befriends a colorful old explosives excavator named Arn (William H. Macy). When that job is completed, Robert rushes back to his cabin for a happy reunion. Sadly, fate has other plans. He must decide whether to drift from job to job or try to put down roots near the site of his great, heartbreaking loss.
In the lead role, Edgerton must make Robert compelling without reciting much dialogue. And he certainly succeeds, making his tired eyes a window into the stoic man’s soul. We can almost share his aches and pains as Robert toils to make a better life for his family. This gives an extra emotional wallop as Edgerton conveys his joy (falling in love, playing with Kate) to his sorrow (that tragedy and the horror of the work camps). Many of the most powerful moments are the scenes shared with Jones, whose Gladys is the bright, shining light in Robert’s dreary drudgery. It’s surprising to see her as the main catalyst to the relationship, catching him “off guard”. Jones’ beaming gaze at him informs us of her passion for the new life she has begun as wife and mother. Another terrific actress, Kerry Condon, also brightens Robert’s life as a new-found friend who begins a job at a nearby forest preserve. Their interplay is quite engaging, as she describes her own love of the solitude of nature. As is the case in his superb supporting work, Macy makes the most of his scant screen time as the lazy bur lovable “blaster” who makes Robert the “sounding board” for his philosophy, while generating laughs as he tinkers with faulty equipment (“Stand back, boy…aw, c’mon now!”).
With his sophomore feature, director Clint Bentley carefully crafts a somber saga of early American life in the West. He also co-wrote the screenplay adaptation of the Denis Johnson novella with Greg Kwedar, which eschews showy histrionics in order for Robert to tell his own story of love, loss, and regret. There’s a dream-like quality to the early scenes of young Robert collecting lifelong memories that will shape his later years. Adding to the dreamscape of the title, Bentley presents images and sequences that could be fantasy or fact, as Robert deals with his own fractured history. All this is enhanced by the rich, luminous cinematography of Adolpho Veloso (tough to go wrong with that lush scenery). For those film fans in need of a quiet, contemplative respite from the usual “rapid_fire”, bombastic movie fare, TRAIN DREAMS is cinema serenity.
3 Out of 4
TRAIN DREAMS streams exclusively on Netflix beginning on November 21, 2025
So, here’s a riddle that could flummox a few filmgoers. When is a sequel technically not a sequel? Now, we’re not referring to a number following a title (GODFATHER II comes to mind), or an entry in a series (as with James Bond or even Sherlock Holmes). That’s when a new film is a conclusion, ending a big story that’s split in two, usually shot at the same time. Pierre Spengler and the Salkind family famously produced two 70s adaptations this way, with the Three Musketeers (allegedly some of its stars weren’t told the movie was going to be split) and the big budget Superman (replacing the director for the concluding flick). That method was revived with Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. And when the last Harry Potter book was too epic, it was spread over two (as was the big Avengers/Thanos battle). Now, we come to the case of a big Broadway stage musical hit (it’s still running there), that the producers felt was just too complex for one cinema experience (plus, they could perhaps double the box office). The “first act” was a huge smash at the end-of-the-year holidays in 2024 at the multiplex, so now they’re hoping that much of that massive audience will want to “return to Oz” in 2025 for WICKED: FOR GOOD. Grab your brooms and wands…
The fantasy fable begins just a few miles from the Emerald City as the Wizard’s workers and official guards crack the whip on some harnessed lumbering beasts (looking like a hybrid of the buffalo or yak) in order to finish the long, winding Yellow Brick Road. But those abused animals have an unlikely rescuer. Soaring down through the clouds is not a caped superhero, but a wicked witch, Elphaba (Cynthisa Erivo). She frees the creatures after a brief battle, then heads skyward. Meanwhile, the Emerald City and Munchkinland are littered with banners, posters, and leaflets warning the populace of this “green-skinned menace”. There, her old Shiz College roommate Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) is the spokesperson (a bright, calming face) for the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), while Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) is his crafty consort in the shadows. The duo convince Glinda that it would help unify the citizens if she announced her engagement to the newly appointed Captain of the Wizard’s Guards, Fiyero (Jonathon Bailey) at that day’s big city ceremony. This comes as a surprise to him, since he still secretly harbors feelings for the “enemy of Oz”. Later, Elphaba encounters several animals trying to leave Oz through a tunnel under the YBR that would lead them to a desert land far away from oppression. She tries to rally them, but the animals reject her when a certain timid feline explains that “El” cast a spell that made the monkeys sprout wings. From there she visits her estranged sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode)who has been appointed governor of Munchkinland after the death of their father. In her office, her former beau Boq (Ethan Slater) is now her servant and is prohibited from traveling, along with all the Munchkins. After enchanting Nessa’s shoes (really slippers), Elphaba is stunned when her sister snatches her book of magic, the Grimmerie, and tries to put a love spell on Boq. When this threatens his life, El uses her powers to avert a fatal tragedy, changing him forever. It’s then that she decides to return to Emerald City to strike a truce with the Wizard to free the animals. This also results in a happy reunion with her “Shiz sister”, but El soon learns of the Wiz’s sinister future plans. As she speeds away on her broom, Morrible hatches a deadly plot. She’ll use her weather manipulation magic to endanger Nessa and lure El to her doom. But what happens when an innocent from another world is thrown (lands, really) into the conflict o Oz?
While the focus of part one was “up for grabs” (and wasn’t Universal a bit wicked for hiding that “listing’ in the 2024 marketing), here it’s clearly Erivo as the often distraught but determined Elphaba. Sure, she’s an avenging rebel in many sequences, streaking out of the sun with more speed than any action hero from Marvel or DC, but there’s a real sadness hovering just under that pointy hat. Erivo’s haunted gaze informs us of her sacrifices, as she must endure the vilest of hateful propaganda in order to help all of Oz. That’s in addition to her musical mastery that’s matched by her best screen partner, Grande-Butera as the now “less-flighty” Glinda. She’s also torn by her faith in the Wizard and her still-present affection for her Shiz sister. We get fewer funny moments with her this round (only a couple of “hair-flips”), as the character becomes more, dare why say, introspective, even examining her privileged younger years. This time out, Bailey is more of a swashbuckler than a flamboyant song-and-dance dude as the now military-minded Fiyero. Ditto for the much darker, dramatic turn as the tormented Boq. His former sweetheart has also taken a turn to tyranny, and Bode as Nessarose conveys her conflict as she yearns for the better times with her sister and old beau. And is there a better devious duo than the quirky but still charming Goldblum and the slinky, sinister Yeoh (love her sneering at Glinda) as the Wizard and Morrible? Happily, Bronwyn James and Bowen Yang return as Glinda’s old classmates, Shenshen and Pfannee, who are now Oz PR staff while bringing some much-needed levity.
Finishing the fantasy is director Jon M. Chu (unlike Richard Donner on the 78 Superman), who keeps the story rolling along and even inserts an action thriller aesthetic recalling his time in the GI Joe franchise. But he really shines in crafting the incredible production numbers, either the soulful ballads by Elphaba and Glinda or the big brassy bits with nearly of the Emerald City, which is just as gorgeous and green as before. Yes, like the first half, the production design, costumes, and backdrops (all the colorful flora and fauna) are delicious eye candy (what a great fodder for a “making of” coffee table tome). The expert effects work add to the visual wonders, with CGI making us believe in the Oz animals (especially those “winkeys”), even helping to put a new spin (no doubt to appease MGM/WB) on that iconic OG quartet. And in order to fill out the story’s second act (on stage, act two is usually shorter) musical wiz Stephen Schwartz has created a couple of new tunes. They’re hummable, but the real highlight is the title number “For Good”. But really, the most sensational songs are in the part. Nothing here has the infectious bounce of “Popular”and “What is This Feeling?” or the soulful yearning of “The Wizard and I” (the “I want” number) or the soaring majesty of “Defying Gravity”, but they’re going for the action and drama which isn’t quite as fun as the “big set” and character intros of last year’s flick. Still, this is a big splashy spectacle which should delight fans and families (though the tots may need some help through scarier violent bits) who want to continue the epic fantastical fable that concludes (maybe) with WICKED: FOR GOOD.
3 Out of 4
WICKED: FOR GOOD is now playing in theatres everywhere
An unlikely friendship. An impossible mission. Watch the new trailer for PROJECT HAIL MARY starring Ryan Gosling.
Science teacher Ryland Grace (Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.
Based on Andy Weir’s New York Times best-selling novel, starring Academy Award® nominee Ryan Gosling with Academy Award® nominee Sandra Hüller, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, and Milana Vayntrub, the film is directed by Academy Award® winning filmmakers Phil Lord & Christopher Miller with a screenplay by Drew Goddard.
See PROJECT HAIL MARY in theaters & IMAX March 20, 2026.
Glen Powell stars in Paramount Pictures’ “THE RUNNING MAN.”
Seems only a couple of weeks ago we saw a remake of a early 1990s classic thriller, THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE. Oh yes, it was just a couple. Well, with only a few weeks left, Hollywood is unleashing another one. Ah, but this is going right to the multiplex, not “straight to streaming” like CRADLE. Oh, and this one’s original “take” (aside from the literary source material) was a few years earlier, 1987 to be precise. Plus, this new flick has a link to last week’s box-office champ. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a busy 1987, going from PREDATOR to this week’s new remake’s “inspiration”. This 2025 “edition” is getting a lot of “heat” since it’s helmed by a cult movie icon and stars an “up-and-coming” screen star. But can he somehow move faster than Arnold as a “2.0” spin on THE RUNNING MAN?
In the not too distant future, the gap between the “haves” and “have-not” seems to have lengthened considerably, especially now that a few corporations have their fingers in everything from the media to law-enforcement. One of the “have-nots” is hard-working stiff and struggling family man Ben Richards (Glen Powell). When we meet him, he’s begging that his former boss rehire him and take him off “the blacklist” for the unforgivable “crime” of meeting with a union rep over safety issues at the factory. But the answer is no, despite Ben bringing along his flu-stricken infant, Cathy. Ben returns to the Co-Op City slums where he shares a tiny broken-down apartment with his wife Shelia (Jayme Lawson) who’s working double shifts at a “gentleman’s club”. The frustrated papa clicks on the tube to catch some “Freevee”. Watching promos for the network’s slate of game shows, Ben believes that the only way to earn some quick medical funds for his daughter is to audition on a show. Promising Shelia that he won’t try out for the most dangerous of these programs, “The Running Man”, Ben heads downtown to the network studios, The staff there notices his fiery temper and sends him right up to the swank office of their big boss, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) who wants him for that most violent show. Dangling a possible billion dollar prize jackpot, Ben reluctantly agrees. He’ll be one of the new trio of contestants on “The Running Man”. But with a heavily armed squad of “hunters” on his trail, along with a citizenry eager for a bit of the “bounty”, can Ben stay alive for thirty days (no one has yet) and return to his loving family?
So, this truly makes it official. Powell is the “real deal” as a movie star, going from the frothy rom-com ANYONE BUT YOU to action lead here, with a slight detour in between into front the disaster-thriller TWISTERS. He brings us into Ben’s heart, willing to do anything to save his struggling family. But there’s no halo over his head, as Powell conveys that bubbling angry frustration that suddenly boils over. There’s also a touch of a charming rascal during the quieter comic interludes, before Powell displays his physical prowess in the many action set pieces. He’s also a great “team player” as Powell shares the screen with an impressive supporting ensemble. Brolin’s a focused business baddie who keeps his evil impulses cloaked, using his “goon army” led by a surly Lee Pace at the ready. Colman Domingo appears to be having a blast as the cynical, flamboyant game show MC “Bobby T”, doing a flashy “peacock strut”. As for the folks in “Ben’s corner”, William H. Macy is the surly, but soft-hearted tech wiz who is something of a father figure to him in a pivotal early scene. Much later, we meet the very intense Michael Cera as an “underground rebel” who balances “old school” methods (dropping pamphlets) with some creative weaponry (a “super-squirter”…really). And in the finale, a somewhat indifferent “have” played by Emilia Jones (CODA) has her mind and heart opened up by Ben. Also of mention are the excellence comic performances of Katy O’Brian and Martin Herlihy (SNL’s “Do Not Destroy”) as Jenni and Tim, Ben’s “less lucky” game show competitors.
That cult icon filmmaker at the helm is Edgar Wright (BABY DRIVER), who co-wrote this adaptation of the Stephen King (as his alias Richard Bachman) novel with Michael Bacall. Wright seems to be having fun as he plays in this big, flashy, sometimes grimy futuristic toy box. It’s a slightly satirical take on current pop culture extremes, though it may be relevant today after the 21st century rise of the reality completion shows, from “Survivor” to “Squid Game”. And without directly calling out the tech terror, Wright also shows the dangers of “AI” as footage of Ben’s battles and video screeds (he has to record himself every day and drop it in a “drone/mailbox”) is manipulated to serve the game’s “narrative”. Yes, some of the parody is almost “shooting fish in a barrel”, especially with the cutaways to a Kardashian-like program, but Wright builds on the media-skewing that ROBOCOP also did so well in 1987 (what was in the “water” that year). Many of the action sequences are inspired, as Ben rigs up found objects in an almost Rube Goldberg fashion to harm the “hunters”. But unfortunately it gets a tad tiresome as the story limps along to a finale that’s way too convoluted with (another action flick problem) far too many endings. Those fans of the original should get a kick out of this spiffy more modern take (though it’s hard to match iconic game-show host Richard Dawson back in the day), but the casual film fans may just feel worn out as hints of “test market tinkering” try to hinder the brisk marathon-pace of THE RUNNING MAN.
2.5 Out of 4
THE RUNNING MAN is now playing in theatres everywhere
While we’re awaiting the big year’s-end animated sequel from the “Mouse House”, here’s quite a tasty CGI (mostly) appetizer you can stream at home. Fledgling Kuku Studios , with assists from Netflix and Sony Animation Studios (yes, the Spider-Verse folks) have produced quite a charming bit of lyrical whimsy that focuses on family dynamics via the imaginary world dotting the “dream-state”. Sure, it sometimes veers into nightmare territory, but more often several rousing fantasy adventures occurs IN YOUR DREAMS.
We’re first introduced to the story’s main character, a pre-teen girl named Stevie (voice of Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) during a pleasant daydream set in the not-too-distant past. She’s having lots of fun making a French toast breakfast in the kitchen, along with her lovably goofy musician Dad (Simu Liu). Soon after Mom (Cristin Milioti) joins them, the dream shifts into chaos with the sudden arrival of a baby brother. Stevie awakens in the present day as she is distracted while making breakfast by the antics of her now eight-year-old wannabe magician kid brother Elliot (Elias Janssen). Mom and Dad are nearby having a pretty serious discussion (the thin walls allow Stevie to get the gist). Mom is heading to Duluth (several hours away) to interview for a higher-paying job, since Dad’s music career has somewhat stalled. Could this prompt a big move. Unfortunately, Dad wants to remain in the old house, so could this lead to them breaking up? Fortunately, Stevie is given a task to take her mind off her worries. She’s going shopping with Elliott to find a book he can write a report on for his class. At a second-hand shop, Elliot innocently brings home a tome from the “off-limits” back room (that dreamy clerk did say it’s priceless). The dusty ole’ storybook is all about “the Sandman”. As if prompted by its subject, Stevie has a weird dream that Elliot’s bed behaves like a flying horse. Or is it a dream? Before she can figure things out, the duo are whisked to a land of living breakfast foods where Elliot is reunited with his thought-to-be-lost favorite childhood toy, a stuffed giraffe named Baloney Tony (Craig Robinson). Somehow he leads them to the land of the Sandman (Omid Djalili) who gives Stevie a chance to make all her dreams come true. Can this be the only way to keep her family together?
This film is truly an entrancing tale with splendid dollops of “eye candy’ that will dazzle animation lovers of all ages (there’s even a few seconds of 2D-style classic “line art”). Big congrats to Erik Benson and Alexander Woo on their feature film directing debut and on the heart-tugging, witty script they co-wrote with Stanley Moore. In that aspect they’ve crafted a most sensitive approach to a great fear of family fragmentation with empathy and maturity. But they haven’t been stingy with the laughs. Baloney Tony may be the big breakout comedy star due to his bouncy, “floppy” physicality and the infectious energy in the vocal work from Robinson. Ah, but those visuals…particularly in the dream settings, with the Sandman’s desert-like domain highlighted by a grainy castle inspired by M.C. Escher (stairs in every possible direction). I was also impressed by the land of breakfast treats, from their sprightly intro to the later “dark turn” with “zombie donuts”. Much of the film’s strength comes from the steady pacing, allowing us to drink in the themes without manic “in-your-face” extreme reactions. But when things kick into action mode, the movie soars, much like the amazing over-the-city and above the clouds flight of Elliot’s bucking-bronco-bed. Also worth savoring (hit that rewind) is the hilarious montage of nightmare trope (“naked in public”, “unprepared for a test”, “teeth falling out”, etc.). All the excellent animation acting (the natural gestures and bouncy double and triple-takes) are given extra “oomph” by the subtle music score by John Debney. Sure, it’s not a big epic blockbuster, but family audiences will savor the wonders and everyday warmth (lots of laughs and heart) of Stevie’s journey throughout IN YOUR DREAMS.
3 out of 4
IN YOUR DREAMS is now streaming exclusively on Netflix
Check out the new trailer forTHE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS.
SpongeBob and his Bikini Bottom friends set sail in their biggest, all-new, can’t miss cinematic event ever…The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman – a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate – on a seafaring comedy-adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.
Based on the Series “SpongeBob SquarePants” Created by Stephen Hillenburg, THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS opens in theaters December 19th.
The cast includes Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence, George Lopez, Isis “Ice Spice” Gaston, Arturo Castro, Sherry Cola with Regina Hall and Mark Hamill .
Directed by Derek Drymon, “THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS” is rated PG for rude humor, some thematic elements, and mild language.
The movie features ICE SPICE in her debut acting role and her new original track, “BIG GUY”!
THE NEW SINGLE WILL BE AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE TONIGHT.PRE-SAVE HERE!
Gary (Tom Kenny), Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) and Squidward (Rodger Bumpass) in The Spongebob Movie: Search For Squarepants from Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon.
