Doctor Who (2024) s02e06 “The Interstellar Song Contest” [2025] D: Ben A. Williams. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Anita Dobson, Freddie Fox, Miriam-Teak Lee, Kadiff Kirwan, Charlie Condou. Excellent, Eurovision almost tie-in (Gatwa was going to host for BBC but didn’t) has an unrecognizable Fox taking over the intergalactic version of the concert. Good thing Gatwa and Sethu have just landed. Gatwa may (or may not) be taking some big swings. Lots of great guest star performances, particularly Lee. Disney money effects are on display, too.

Doctor Who (2024) s02e07 “Wish World (1)” [2025] D: Alex Pillai. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Millie Gibson, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Archie Panjabi, Anita Dobson. Part one of the finale tries to give Gibson her own subplot, introduce Panjabi (without giving away details), while setting up this bewildering WISH WORLD. Gatwa and Sethu are somehow brainwashed into thinking they’re suburban marrieds in a world where doubting is outlawed. There’s some great stuff but once the episode’s trying to set up part two, it slips.

Doctor Who (2024) s02e08 “The Reality War (2)” [2025] D: Alex Pillai. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Millie Gibson, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Yasmin Finney, Ruth Madeley. Mostly outstanding finish–as usual, companions Gibson and Sethu don’t quite get enough (particularly Gibson; for a while it seems like Sethu, but she at least gets an acting showcase). Gatwa’s transcendent, supreme. Big Disney money on display for the space-time fireworks, some great callbacks and cameos, and a successful enough bow. And a heck of a cliffhanger.

The Last of Us (2023) s02e06 “The Price” [2025] D: Neil Druckmann. S: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Rutina Wesley, Catherine O’Hara, Robert John Burke, Joe Pantoliano. It’s the cop out of cops out for Pascal’s return. The episode is every year between the season’s on Ramsey’s birthday. Except when it isn’t. It’s a self-indulgent mishmash of trite family moments, punctured by the reveal on a new set of stakes. It might be different if Ramsey or Pascal or the episode brought anything unique.

The Last of Us (2023) s02e07 “Convergence” [2025] D: Nina Lopez-Corrado. S: Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Kaitlyn Dever, Jeffrey Wright. Until the third act misfire and the tropey cliffhanger (and the less tropey but still tropey set up for the next season), it’s the best episode in ages (if not ever). Real tense stuff as Ramsey, delivering a fantastic action antihero performance, hunts down Dever in storm-flooded post-apocalyptic Seattle. Superb direction from Lopez-Corrado. Dirt cheap writing.

Poker Face (2023) s02e04 “The Taste of Human Blood” [2025] D: Lucky McKee. S: Natasha Lyonne, Gaby Hoffmann, Kumail Nanjiani, Steve Buscemi, Shiloh Fernandez, John Sayles. “It’s just copaganda, actually,” episode hopefully has a story behind it. Grown up kid actor guest star Hoffman gets a strangely bad showcase. She’s fine but the part’s trash. Lyonne’s great, somehow finding the necessary vibe to make it work. Good direction from McKee helps, as well as particular subplots. Lyonne enthusiastically encourages her costars, which doesn’t always work.

Poker Face (2023) s02e05 “Hometown Hero” [2025] D: John Dahl. S: Natasha Lyonne, Steve Buscemi, Simon Rex, B.J. Novak, Carol Kane, Brandon Perea, Gil Birmingham. Superbly done baseball episode probably isn’t the best deconstruction of the genre… but it ain’t bad at it. Director Dahl’s got the vibe–the transition between suspect Rex and detective Lyonne has never been smoother. Great cameo from Kane; Rex is phenomenal, Lyonne’s great, Perea’s great, and Buscemi’s going to be a serial killer, huh? Anyway. Stellar.

Poker Face (2023) s02e06 “Sloppy Joseph” [2025] D: Adam Arkin. S: Natasha Lyonne, Steve Buscemi, Eve Jade Halford, Callum Vinson, David Krumholtz, Margo Martindale, Adrienne C. Moore. It’s a distressingly mid outing with Lyonne trying to outwit a psychopathic second-grader (Halford). Martindale’s somewhat amusing as the principal, but the material’s just not there. It doesn’t help the direction starts (and ends) on a Wes Anderson riff, but is otherwise as aimless as the script. Everyone gets through it relatively unscathed… except for losing time.

Doctor Who (2024) s02e04 “Lucky Day” [2025] D: Peter Hoar. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Millie Gibson. On hiatus companion Gibson returns for a feature, all about her romance with alien enthusiast podcaster Jonah Hauer-King. Gatwa and Sethu get a little (Sethu less), and if it weren’t for the many big twists, it might feel like Gibson’s pilot with Jemma Redgrave’s hi-tech alien police. It’s a great showcase for Gibson, albeit shoehorned in.

Doctor Who (2024) s02e05 “The Story & the Engine” [2025] D: Makalla McPherson. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps, Sule Rimi, Ariyon Bakare, Stefan Adegbola, Michelle Asante. Lush, romantic, nerdy, and as African as Disney and the BBC would let them get episode has Gatwa trapped in an interdimensional Nigerian barbershop on the back of a giant spider, weaving its way across the firmament. Excellent guest spots from Asante and Bakare; everyone’s good. Gatwa and Sethu’s colonialism-aware dynamic duo keeps getting better. Great cameo, too.

The Last of Us (2023) s02e04 “Day One” [2025] D: Kate Herron. S: Bella Ramsey, Isabela Merced, Jeffrey Wright. Jeffrey Wright joins the show as a level boss and brings some gravitas with him. Ramsey and Merced meanwhile take a break from the zombies to have some real talks, getting interrupted by zombies, of course. It’s solid, entirely because of Ramsey, then Merced, then Wright. Hopefully the show will get something going besides the acting. But probably not?

The Last of Us (2023) s02e05 “Feel Her Love” [2025] D: Stephen Williams. S: Bella Ramsey, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Tati Gabrielle, Alanna Ubach, Hettienne Park, Maurice Dean Wint. Until Gabrielle shows up, the episode’s barely okay. Somehow, despite Ramsey and Merced both giving fine performances, their working romance thing drags. But once the action starts–after Ramsey passes the first three checkpoints, anyway–the episode takes off. Gabrielle’s phenomenal, bringing out new stuff in Ramsey. And Alanna Ubach’s in it for a scene and a delight.

Poker Face (2023) s02e01 “The Game Is a Foot” [2025] D: Rian Johnson. S: Natasha Lyonne, Cynthia Erivo, Jin Ha, Jasmine Guy. Awesome guest performance from Erivo as an apple picker who used to be a child actor. Mom Guy took all the money and cut Erivo out of the will. Lyonne’s on the run from the mob and befriends Erivo. Truly spectacular acting from Erivo, tepid, derivative direction from Rian Johnson. Erivo makes the episode. Odd for a season premiere.

Poker Face (2023) s02e02 “Last Looks” [2025] D: Natasha Lyonne. S: Natasha Lyonne, Katie Holmes, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Corrigan. Lyonne cowrites and directs. Esposito’s a creepy mortician with an unhappy wife (Holmes, who’s more enthusiastic than successful). When she goes missing, Lyonne gets suspicious but “no lies detected.” Fantastic performance from Esposito, with Lyonne directing him (and the episode) Hitchcockian but not obnoxiously. Corrigan’s got a bit part and is (too briefly) delightful. Lyonne and Esposito deliver.

Poker Face (2023) s02e03 “Whack-A-Mole” [2025] D: Miguel Arteta. S: Natasha Lyonne, John Mulaney, Richard Kind, Chris Bauer, Simon Helberg, Rhea Perlman. Nothing really matters like Rhea Perlman guesting as the mob boss out to get Lyonne. But then everything else delivers, too, like erstwhile FBI agent love interest Helberg’s return, which brings with it Kind, Bauer, and Mulaney. Bauer’s the dark horse, while Mulaney’s… fine. And it sets up the season (finally). The pacing, Lyonne, and Perlman rule.

Faster (2010) D: George Tillman Jr.. S: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Maggie Grace, Carla Gugino, Tom Berenger, Matt Gerald. Depressingly (because director Tillman just cannot hack it) bad car action picture about the Rock hunting down those who wronged him before he went to prison. Thornton is the cop on his trail, Jackson-Cohen is the hit man who comes between them. There’s no good acting until Annie Corley shows up, but Jackson-Cohen’s particularly godawful.

Hit Man (1972) D: George Armitage. S: Bernie Casey, Pam Grier, Lisa Moore, Bhetty Waldron, Sam Laws, Don Diamond, Bob Harris, Candy All. Mean, sometimes cruel revenge picture about Casey coming down to L.A. from Oakland to bury his brother. He soon finds out things aren’t what he assumed and he needs to take care of a variety of baddies. Solid acting from pretty much everyone but white Mr. Big Diamond. Grier’s a standout, Laws is hilarious, and Casey’s a great lead.

Pride (2014) D: Matthew Warchus. S: George MacKay, Ben Schnetzer, Bill Nighy, Dominic West, Andrew Scott, Faye Marsay, Jessica Gunning. Charming historically-based comedy-drama about a group of eighties queer Londoners deciding to raise money for striking miners, regardless of whether they’re welcome. Excellent performances, fantastic production design, careful direction, and strong dialogue. The only thing wrong with it is the length (it’s too short). West, Gunning, and Scott give the standout performances, but everyone’s outstanding.

Rampage (2018) D: Brad Peyton. S: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Åkerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jake Lacy, P.J. Byrne, Demetrius Grosse. Entertaining enough video game “adaptation” about Special Forces commando turned primatologist Johnson’s favorite ape getting doused with a DNA-change agent and turning into a giant monster. Harris is the disgraced scientist who can help, Morgan (with a bewildering “cowboy” accent) is the G-man who believes in the good guys. Great special effects, solid acting, blah finish.

Sinners (2025) D: Ryan Coogler. S: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Jack O’Connell, Delroy Lindo, Jayme Lawson. After working as gunsels in 1930s Chicago, twin brothers Jordan (and Jordan) return home to Mississippi to open a juke joint. They’re trying to get the band together and reconnect with the loves left behind. But then it turns out vampires are real. And they love music. Great picture, start to finish. Writer-director Coogler handily surpasses his influences.

Skyscraper (2018) D: Rawson Marshall Thurber. S: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Roland Møller, Byron Mann, Pablo Schreiber, Hannah Quinlivan. Former FBI strike team commando Johnson and Navy doctor commando Campbell are marrieds visiting a hi-tech skyscraper in Hong Kong. Johnson’s doing security consulting, Campbell’s taking the kids to see the pandas. A bunch of terrorists show up. Not good, but could be worse–Johnson’s effortlessly sturdy running through CGI chaos–and it’s always nice to see Campbell.

Unforgiven (1992) D: Clint Eastwood. S: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Jaimz Woolvett, Richard Harris, Saul Rubinek, Anna Thomson. Eastwood’s final Western is a lush, deliberate, brooding examination of violent men and those they inflict violence upon. Eastwood and Freeman are bad men turned farmers looking for an easy payday to turn their lives around. Hackman is the vicious, cruel sheriff standing in their way. Beautiful filmmaking and the richest performances. Very smart script from David Webb Peoples.

Daredevil: Born Again (2025) s01e09 “Straight to Hell” D: Aaron Moorhead. S: Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Michael Gandolfini, Ayelet Zurer, Wilson Bethel, Deborah Ann Woll, Jon Bernthal. Smart, savvy season finale brings Woll back–presumably to be a regular–to give Cox a pal since he may be surrounded by (problematically?) female Judases. Most of the episode’s got Berenthal laying waste in perfection. The third act’s a little clunky (they needed a consistent city hall subplot), but REBORN’s in great shape for next time.

Doctor Who (2024) s02e01 “The Robot Revolution” [2025] D: Peter Hoar. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Evelyn Miller, Jonny Green, Max Parker, Thalía Dudek, Jeffin Kunjumon. Excellent debut for Sethu, who gets kidnapped by alien robots so she can rule their planet, but it’s complicated and timey wimey it turns out. Gatwa is there to save her, but she’s going to save herself. The conclusion’s both good and bad, with the script flexing a little much for a bit. Great direction from Hoar.

Doctor Who (2024) s02e02 “Lux” [2025] D: Amanda Brotchie. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Alan Cumming, Lucy Thackeray, Linus Roache. Sethu’s second outing, which has her getting into the Doctor’s investigating and not just needing to be rescued, is a fantastic one. She and Gatwa happen across a mysterious movie theater (where the audience already knows an evil cartoon has come to life–voiced by Cummings). Great chemistry between Sethu and Gatwa, but also just great television. Real good.

Doctor Who (2024) s02e03 “The Well” [2025] D: Amanda Brotchie. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Christopher Chung, Caoilfhionn Dunne, Bethany Antonia, Annabel Brook. In the very far flung future, Gatwa and Sethu land on a desolate planet in the middle of a space marines mission. The setup is very trope, but the surprise continuity ties, and just the plain scariness are outstanding. Another great episode for the new duo. The big budget Disney+ effects don’t hurt at all either. Real good.

The Last of Us (2023) s02e01 “Future Days” [2025] D: Craig Mazin. S: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Samuel Hoeksema, Kaitlyn Dever. Exposition-heavy season opener does a five-year jump ahead to a period where Pascal and Ramsey aren’t talking. Is it because of his big secret? Not even therapy with new cast member O’Hara will answer that question here. Then Merced gets to raise a bunch of personal stakes for Ramsey. It barely qualifies as engaging, much less compelling.

The Last of Us (2023) s02e02 “Through the Valley” [2025] D: Mark Mylod. S: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Kaitlyn Dever, Robert John Burke. Oh, so it is “that” episode. Well. Honestly, not having played the game… I’m hesitant to offer an opinion on adaptation. As far as this episode’s dramatics, however, high mid? They should’ve done a two-hour premiere and gotten this over with if it’s so soon. Also, if Dever pulls off the heavy, sure, otherwise, oof. Prestige RESIDENT EVIL….

The Last of Us (2023) s02e03 “The Path” [2025] D: Peter Hoar. S: Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Rutina Wesley, Catherine O’Hara, Robert John Burke. They didn’t even get Pedro Pascal for a corpse cameo; not sure how to read into that one. Overall, the episode goes on too long, with Ramsey and Merced saving it scene to scene, but the pedantic, belabored storytelling works against it. Maybe it’s the lack of cinematic direction? Something. But Ramsey’s great and Merced’s real good too.

Anora (2024) D: Sean Baker. S: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Luna Sofía Miranda, Lindsey Normington. Good but overlong story of stripper Madison and son-of-a-Russian-oligarch Eydelshteyn going from a professional arrangement to a quickie wedding. Except then his family finds out. The “courtship”’s way too long (with shockingly little character development for Madison), but the second half picks up. Strong performances, great direction, no ending (because it was never about Madison).

A Different Man (2024) D: Aaron Schimberg. S: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson. Pretty good drama about Stan going from having a disfiguring facial condition to looking like Sebastian Stan. The first half of the picture, which has Stan almost entirely in prosthetics and forming a friendship with new neighbor Reinsve, is solid. The second half, despite a delightful performance from Pearson (who actually has Stan’s dramatized condition), misses its marks.

Doc Hollywood (1991) D: Michael Caton-Jones. S: Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Barnard Hughes, Woody Harrelson, David Ogden Stiers, George Hamilton, Bridget Fonda. Barely charming romcom about hotshot surgeon Fox getting sentenced to be a small-town doctor while his car gets fixed. Then he meets Warner, who he’s destined by plotting to pursue. Not a good vehicle for Fox (or anyone, save maybe Fonda and Harrelson; but barely). Maybe if director Caton-Jones noticed the changing and disparate Southern accents.

Event Horizon (1997) D: Paul W. S. Anderson. S: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson, Richard T. Jones, Jason Isaacs, Sean Pertwee. Boring, bad sci-fi horror picture about a rescue mission to a ghost spaceship. Fishburne’s captain’s tough but fair and cares, Neill’s mad(?) scientist has secrets. Everyone else is either collateral damage, comic relief, or terror fodder. At least Neill’s so terrible he overshadows mid to bad performances from everyone else. Lousy special effects, beyond derivative script; the pits.

Harlem Nights (1989) D: Eddie Murphy. S: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Danny Aiello, Michael Lerner, Della Reese, Lela Rochon. Murphy’s debut as a writer-director has problems, but the film’s production values are top notch and there’s some great acting. Pryor is a nightclub owner in thirties HARLEM, Murphy’s his kid. White gangsters decide to muscle them out. Strange, earnest performance from Pryor. Murphy doesn’t know what to do with it. Reese is hilarious and Lela Rochon’s excellent.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) D: Yorgos Lanthimos. S: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan. Absurdly affected psychological thriller about teenager Keoghan terrorizing Farrell and his family. Keoghan blames surgeon Farrell for his father’s death, and the piper wants to be paid. They’re both great. Kidman is not as Farrell’s wife (can’t hold the accent even), but her part’s lousy. Alicia Silverstone’s cameo’s rough, too. Director Lanthimos’s very busy and opinionated, but nothing more.

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) D: Martin Scorsese. S: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey. Ambitious Scorsese biblical epic has a conflicted Jesus (Dafoe) trying to understand his situation as moving through the familiar New Testament stories. Keitel’s a standout as Judas, the viewer’s surrogate. The film gets through its bumpier parts–mostly the transition from miracles to the crucifixion–thanks to amazing technicals, an excellent performance from Dafoe, and the great Peter Gabriel score.

The Secret of My Success (1987) D: Herbert Ross. S: Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater, Richard Jordan, Margaret Whitton, John Pankow, Christopher Murney, Gerry Bamman. Fox is a farm boy gone to New York City to become a yuppie. Overlong by a lot, with tedious song montages and inert direction from Ross. The real problem’s the script, which doesn’t give the game cast much to work with (especially poor Slater). Whitton’s great as Fox’s aunt (by marriage) and lover. Everyone else just tries to stay afloat.