There’s a movie called The Future by Miranda July where one of the characters freezes time via magic moon powers, only to realize that he didn’t actually stop the world from turning; he just disengaged from it and things kept on going while he kept himself in one place. Needless to say that the last three months have taken quite a bit out of me and my response to it all was to focus on literally anything else other than this website and writing reviews, but the world doesn’t stop just because you want to get off, so it’s time to try and get back on that horse before it’s too late. Yes, we’re doing the 2025 lists well after everyone has stopped caring, but I’ve got to start somewhere if I’m gonna get my momentum back, and talking about movies I’ve already talked about seems like a good way to get back into the groove of things!  As usual, this is not a traditional Worst Movies Ever list, but is instead a space to offer constructive criticisms to movies I at least found interesting enough to offer my unsolicited advice. Let’s get started!

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Marty Supreme & The Smashing Machine

Full Review

Perhaps I’ve said everything I needed to when I did my double-bill review of these two movies, but I think the complete shut out of Marty Supreme at the Oscars does add a little perspective to the situation. Sure, Josh Safdie seemed like the breakout star of the two with his film getting a mountain of nominations and superior box office returns, but at the end of the day, I don’t think it has the staying power of his earlier work when he was teamed up with his brother Benny. Conversely, while The Smashing Machine was, to my mind, the more interesting movie, it’s not all that surprising that it didn’t catch on with audiences and critics; lacking a strongly structured narrative and having very little to say by the end of it. With their powers combined, they made one of my favorite movies in the last decade, and perhaps it was inevitable that their first solo projects would feel lacking. I’m still rooting for them and I wouldn’t want them to be stifled creatively by feeling like they have to work together, but it’s clear that they still have a lot to learn from one another and these two movies do a great job of illustrating  that.

Continue reading “Cinema Dispatch: Top 7 films of 2025 That Need Improvement” →