by admin | Oct 1, 2025 | Articles, Cinemablend Articles
This is perhaps a little overzealous to say, but I never believe it when an artist says that they are retiring. If a true talent exists, I don’t think that the artistic impulse can simply be flicked off like a switch; real passion cannot be killed, and the urge to create cannot be permanently ignored. Case in point: I was never convinced that Daniel Day-Lewis’ final performance was going to be in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 film Phantom Thread, and with the creation and arrival of Anemone, I am thrilled to be proven correct, as the legendary actor has not lost an ounce of his dramatic skill and gravitas in the last eight years, and his turn in the film is simply phenomenal.
Anemone
Release Date: October 3, 2025
Directed By: Ronan Day-Lewis
Written By: Ronan Day-Lewis and Daniel Day-Lewis
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean, Samuel Bottomley, Samantha Morton, and Safia Oakley-Green
Rating: R for language throughout
Runtime: 121 minutes
A story about fathers and sons fittingly co-written by the three-time Oscar winner and his son, first-time director Ronan Day-Lewis, the film is an onion: it presents as being very simple, but the progression of the story peels back layers and unveils something potent below. You can count all of the characters on one hand, and it volleys back and forth between just two principal locations, but it’s lean, raw, and powerful, and the script demands exceptional the performances that it gets from not just Day-Lewis but also Sean Bean, Samuel Bottomley, and Samantha Morton.
misery. This is in part a tribute to the tonal complexity of the film’s script – a perfect example of this being a disgusting tale of scatological revenge that Ray tells… about getting back at an elderly priest who sexually abused him as a child. (You truly do not know whether to laugh or cry.) Another part of this is the film’s remarkable beauty, as Jem and Ray spend their days ensconced in stunning forests and running along expansive beaches. And then there is the tremendous cast doing tremendous work.
Daniel Day-Lewis alone is worth the price of admission, but the entire cast is spectacular.
The intimacy of the work demands actors who melt into their roles, and the stars prove up to the challenging task. It will surprise nobody to learn that Daniel Day-Lewis is the showstopper, in the grand scheme injecting his character with pathos as powerful as his spite, but Sean Bean is a powerful pilot for the emotional journey, not only drawing out Ray’s truth emotionally but confronting him physically.
Samuel Bottomley and Samantha Morton are brilliant in their own right on the other side of the plot. The former effuses a lifetime of confusion and pain in his eyes and hung shoulders, long tortured by both his father’s absence and left behind reputation, while the latter offers a potent blend of love and fear, wanting what is best for her son but having many questions of her own about why Ray left.
Anemone is worth seeing for the return of Daniel Day-Lewis alone, as he is a singular artists and one of the most gifted men to ever perform in front of a camera. But the bonus is that he and his son also happen to make tremendous collaborators and have together made a movie that is deep, challenging, beautiful, dark and ultimately optimistic.
by admin | Sep 30, 2025 | Articles, Cinemablend Articles
Highlander’s filming may have been delayed due to Henry Cavill getting injured during preproduction, but the long-awaited reboot is still making progress forward. The latest update comes in the form of another casting, as Jeremy Irons has joined the new take on the 1986 fantasy cult classic. Not only does the role he’s playing sound fascinating, but this also means we’re getting a DC Extended Universe reunion in Highlander.
Jeremy Irons played Alfred Pennyworth in the defunct superhero franchise, and while he didn’t share any scenes with Henry Cavill’s Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, they did briefly cross paths in Justice League (both cuts). For Highlander, THR has shared that like Dave Bautista, Irons is playing one of the movie’s antagonists. While Bautista’s Kurgan has top baddie status, Irons is playing the leader of a group called The Watchers, who are, as described by the publication, “keeping an eye on the immortals and see them as a threat to humanity.”
Russell Crowe, who played Jor-El in Man of Steel, will play Ramirez, Connor MacLeod’s mentor. Djimon Hounsou has also been cast as an immortal warrior from Africa. However, Hounsou never shared any screen time with Cavill in the DCEU. He played King Ricou in Aquaman, and The Wizard in both Shazam!movies, none of which Cavill appeared in. Both actors also cameoed separately in Black Adam.
The Highlander cast also includes Marisa Abela, Karen Gillan, Max Zhang and Drew McIntyre. Chad Stahelski is directing the reboot off a script written by Michael Finch. Originally Highlander was a Lionsgate production, but now it’s being handled by Amazon-MGM United Artists banner. It still doesn’t have a release date, but cameras are now set to begin rolling in early 2026.
by admin | Sep 30, 2025 | Articles, Cinemablend Articles
Good Boy
Release Date: October 3, 2025
Directed By: Ben Leonberg
Written By: Alex Cannon and Ben Leonberg
Starring: Indy the Dog, Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, Larry Fessenden
Rating: PG-13 for terror, bloody images and strong language
Runtime: 73 minutes
Having an animal nearby in our households and/or in those of our family and friends is a constant throughout many of our lives. And having a dog in particular often feels like this symbiotic relationship where us humans get unconditional love, protection and a fuzzy friend that will follow us anywhere in exchange for giving them a safe and fulfilling life by your side. Ben Leonberg’s Good Boy explores this idea thoughtfully in the framing of a horror movie with man’s best friend serving as the protagonist – somehow for the first time in cinema history, and it’s a first-well executed.
Seeing a horror movie fully from the POV of a dog seems like a movie that had to have happened before, and it seems as though it would be too ambitious to get right in the first go. But Good Boy succeeds in its execution and is actually better for being a DIY-vibed independent movie that operates in a pure way addressing the question, “What would a film look like if a dog saw the ghosts in a haunted house instead of the human characters?” What’s revealed from this often melancholy cinematic experiment is an unnerving, yet tender exploration of the relationship between a dog and its owner.
To reiterate: Good Boy is very much an independent movie. Writer/director Ben Leonberg wore a lot of hats as the movie’s cinematographer and producer as well, and he cast his own dog, an absolutely adorable Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Indy. With his wife, he lived on the movie’s set across a three-year period to get the most honest performance out of his non-Hollywood trained animal. The results pay off. Indy gives a rare performance that’s often lost with canine actors.
Good Boy starts when Indy (the dog’s name in the movie as well) and his owner Todd (Shane Jensen) arrive at a creepy family home where Todd plans to isolate himself as he continues to deal with some serious health issues. The house is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and the story takes place almost entirely inside as Indy begins to notice supernatural occurrences. It’s a unique take on the genre because Indy cannot ask for help here. The powerlessness of the animal protagonist looms over the entire film as he continues to experience the darkness of the new place.
Indy has a big job of having to carry the film emotionally, even though, again, he is a dog – and not one of those talking and/or CGI kinds. You really do feel those emotions with extremely limited dialogue in the movie.
Good Boy almost feels like the perfect assignment for filmmakers or a film studies class to watch and discuss among them when talking about the importance of the technical side of movies, as even with the production’s limited resources, cinematography, sound, and editing all contribute to heightening the experience. If you’re all about a lot of lore/interconnected plotlines more than experimentation in those departments, this will probably fall flat for you. It’s all about playing out the concept here.
The horror movie keeps the perspective on Indy the whole time, and with that comes some inherent narrative limits.
Good Boy is filmed from the perspective of Indy, with a lot of low shots that make Todd’s face and expressions obscured for most of the movie. It makes for a unique viewing experience where like a dog, you don’t have the full scope of the human world, and have only a limited perception of what’s happening. There are some inherent narrative limitations with this approach – but that’s also why the film has a runtime of just 73 minutes: it needs to retain a certain sense of simplicity and bite (pun intended) in order to commit to its approach.
When there is dialogue, mostly in Todd and his sister Vera’s conversations over the phone, there’s a lack of polish to be registered. Sometimes it feels like the technicality of getting the perspective right was weighed more heavily than the more traditional storytelling details, and that leads to some gaps in the middle of the tense ride. But the third act helps even out some of the squeaks in the floorboards in the script.
The terrors in Good Boy may not be completely fleshed out, but the emotion behind the movie makes up for this.
There’s a nostalgia to the visual style in the movie that may reminded me of Poltergeist, especially since the house itself doesn’t seem like it’s been touched for decades. A lot of smart aesthetic choices are made, with Ben Leonberg manipulating the lighting throughout Indy’s timid odyssey through the haunted house and upping the eerie. As the movie progresses, audiences slowly get a better sense of what Indy and Todd are up against… but remember: indie movie equals indie VFX. Good Boy‘s story is telling is fresh and rich with symbolism, its loose narrative allowing audiences to project their own experiences on to it, and those who have had their own meaningful pets will find pay off in the emotional third act.
Good Boy is a scrappy indie movie. If you’re looking for wall-to-wall scares and a lot of plot, it won’t be for you. But if you’re a modern horror fan who’s interested in eerie, atmospheric experimentation in the genre with purpose, this is a memorable and thought-provoking watch that makes one want to hold the sweet animals in our lives closer (and with more reverence).
by admin | Sep 30, 2025 | Articles, Cinemablend Articles
With the dawn of widespread AI, it only makes sense that I make this list about evil computers (or other types of technology) in movies and TV. There are a ton to choose from, of course. Sometimes it’s their creators that make them go rogue, other times the computers or software itself turns itself to the dark side. No matter why they go bad, this is a list of computers that are the ultimate villains in your favorite movies and TV shows.
Skynet (Terminator Franchise)
No list like this would be anywhere close to complete without the ultimate example of a computer system going pure evil, than Skynet in the Terminator franchise. “Skynet” has become a synonym for computers that become self-aware and is often used in everyday life to represent everything from surveillance systems to spyware.
best movies of the ’80s, WarGames, it just wanted to play a game. Still, at the end of the day, Joshua did take over the WOPR and threatened to destroy the globe with a nuclear war that it almost launched. On the flip side, the program does learn that there is no way to win at tic-tac-toe, nor can anyone triumph in nuclear war.
great video game scenes, it’s really the business side of the computer that gets into all the trouble.
Marvel movies have gotten in on the fun here with one of The Avengers’ most sinister villains, Ultron. Voiced by James Spader, Ultron was originally conceived by Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr), but the program becomes sentient and uses its own logic to decide humanity must be wiped out. The plot of Avengers: Age of Ultron isn’t all that unique in fiction, and it’s not my favorite MCU movie, but it is still a lot of fun.
Stephen King movie actually directed by the famous author, it’s all machines that turn against humanity. Computers don’t play a huge role here, as it was the ’80s. Most of the evil machines are trucks and other mechanical machines, but it’s safe to assume the computers went rogue, too, right?
ranking Superman movies, it’ll always be at or near the bottom. BUT, it does feature a computer that turns on its creator, placing it firmly on this list.
Mission: Impossible movies. At the time, I said that to enjoy the movies, you kind of just have to let all reality go, and that’s especially true of The Entity. It fits on this list, but let’s be real, everyone just wants to see Tom Cruise do crazy stunts.
a Netflix original, is the most light-hearted, but as the title implies, audiences are still treated to an epic battle of man vs. machine. The all-star cast, including Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Eric Andre, Fred Armisen, and more, really carry the movie, even if you’re like me and don’t love animated movies.
The Matrix franchise. It’s Skynet on steroids, or, if you like, what Skynet in the Terminator franchise could evolve into.
David Hasselhoff) drove in the show for years. It was also like the Bizarro version of KITT that popped up in Season 3 of Knight Rider as an antagonist to Michael and KITT in the legendary ’80s show with one of the coolest cars ever.
Alex Garland-directed film Ex Machina is a perfect example. Ava (Alicia Vikander) is an AI-powered robot who realizes she is in danger and does what she has to do to escape her creator. Though it is easy to argue that she goes way too far by the end.
Julianne Moore), and for a while, we’re not even aware that “she” is a computer program. It’s a fun twist and a really fun movie, despite the incredibly low rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Will Smith sci-fi hit I, Robot, V.I.K.I (short for Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence) goes through a pretty predictable plot of an AI system that decides the best way to protect humans is to take them out. This, of course, turns into all-out war between man and machine, like so many other movies in this genre.
WALL-E. In the classic animated flick, AUTO, which is clearly an homage to HAL, is the computer that turns evil.
James Caan’s best movies, but it’s not the first one you might think of when you think of the late actor. The 1975 sci-fi classic features a computer called “Zero” that holds all the knowledge of humanity, but the software fails and can’t help Caan’s character succeed.
from being invented, smart home tech, to turn against its owners. It’s a movie, based on a Ray Bradbury story, that warned us all the way back in the ’60s of the dangers of virtual reality.
STEM (Upgrade)
2018’s Upgrade is a really great movie that too many people haven’t seen (yet). The story involves a regular guy who, after a tragic car crash, ends up a quadriplegic. He agrees to have an implant, called STEM, implanted in his brain. Of course, the miracle he first experiences by regaining control of his body, things go very wrong with the tech, and everything goes south from there.
by admin | Sep 30, 2025 | Articles, Cinemablend Articles
As talk continues about whether or not John Wick: Chapter 5 will happen (for the sake of Keanu Reeves’ body, maybe it shouldn’t), let’s not forget about the heroine who debuted in the franchise earlier this year. Ana de Armas starred in the 2025 movie release Ballerina as Eve Macarro, who went on her own mission of revenge, just like Mr. Wick. I enjoyed watching Ballerina, including that moment where de Armas assembled a gun in 14 seconds, and am now even more impressed to see the stunt was indeed done practically.
In a video making the rounds that was originally shared by @cinema.encyclopedia, we see Ana de Armas successfully putting together a gun opposite one of the stunt team’s members. It was important for her to do it as quickly as possible for one of Ballerina’s key scenes, and just look at the joy on her face when she made it happen.
Watch On
By completing that final task, Eve became the Kikimora and carried out various missions for the Ruska Roma. However, it wasn’t long before she left the group to pursue exacting vengeance on The Cult, which was responsible for the death of her father when she was a child. While she succeeded in killing The Cult’s leader, known only as The Chancellor, and many of its members, the survivors put a $5 million bounty on her head, forcing her to seek refuge at the New York Continental.
