All posts by Ben Sears

Movie Reviews

Cloud Review

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Cloud

  • Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
  • Writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
  • Starring: Masaki Suda, Kotone Furukawa, Daiken Okudaira, Amane Okayama, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa

Grade: B+

Perhaps it’s just a coincidence that I watched Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud as the internet pivoted once again to the worst, when X (formerly Twitter) essentially became a safe-haven for Nazism, and Elmo’s account was hacked to spew anti-Semitic hate. The long-time Japanese auteur has made a career out of psychological horrors that explore our modern anxieties around technology and manipulation, and his latest film touches on how the internet warps our reality. It’s a subject that Kurosawa used almost 25 years ago, but Cloud feels like a modern update to those sentiments.

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Best of 2025, Special Features

Best Movies of 2025 So Far

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My enthusiasm for the best movies of 2025 so far is admittedly a little less muted than in previous years, but there remain some bright pockets. Whether through blockbuster films from established voices or indies from first-time directors, the first half of the year has provided plenty of entertaining highlights worthy of celebrating.

Honorable Mentions

  • Ballerina
  • Black Bag
  • Companion
  • The Day the Earth Blew Up
  • F1 the Movie
  • The Life of Chuck
  • Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
  • Predator: Killer of Killers
  • Thunderbolts*
  • Warfare
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Best of 2025, Special Features

Best TV Shows of 2025 So Far

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The first half of 2025 has been so front-loaded with quality TV that I could easily put together a top 10 list with a number of honorable mentions. Weirdly enough, the year has been packed with seasons of shows that released their last seasons in 2022 (Severance, The White Lotus, The Rehearsal, Andor, Mythic Quest, etc.), which upped the antes of what came before and set the bar even higher. Of course, there are some blind spots – most notably, Adolescence, Hacks, The Righteous Gemstones, Daredevil: Born Again, and Your Friends and Neighbors – but the following is as close to comprehensive as can be.

Honorable Mentions:

  • Harley Quinn
  • The Last of Us
  • Mythic Quest
  • The Studio
  • Welcome to Wrexham
  • Win or Lose
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Movie Reviews

F1 the Movie Review

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F1 the Movie

  • Director: Joseph Kosinski
  • Writer: Ehren Kruger
  • Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem, Kim Bodnia, Tobias Menzies, Shea Wigham, Sarah Niles

Grade: B+

Big-screen thrills come roaring back with the energizing F1 the Movie, a potent blend of racing action and character drama from the same team as Top Gun: Maverick. Much like Stephen Spielberg or Christopher Nolan, director Joseph Kosinski seems tailor-made for theatrical spectacles, and his latest almost demands to be seen in the best format possible. The film’s story may not take the podium in its originality (the same could be said for its lame, SEO-first title), but the exciting racing sequences make up for any deficiencies found elsewhere.

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Best of 2025, Special Features

Best Performances of 2025 So Far

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Though I’m less sure of the overall quality of TV and film throughout 2025 so far, there has been no shortage of great performances across both mediums. Here are the best of the year so far from film and television.

Honorable Mentions:

  • Cate Blanchett, Black Bag
  • Michael Cera, The Phoenician Scheme
  • Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
  • Lewis Pullman, Thunderbolts*
  • Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
  • Tim Robinson, Friendship
  • Stellan Skarsgård, Andor
  • Sophie Thatcher, Companion
  • Tramell Tillman, Severance
  • Noah Wyle, The Pitt
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Movie Reviews

How to Train Your Dragon Review

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How to Train Your Dragon

  • Director: Dean DeBlois
  • Writer: Dean DeBlois
  • Starring: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James

Grade: B

Until this point, live action remakes of animated films have been confined to Disney, a symbol of their hubristic greed to wring every last possible dollar out of their classic catalog. How to Train Your Dragon, one of the most respected of DreamWorks Animation’s library, has an admittedly dated aesthetic by today’s standards, but this alone isn’t reason enough to make the jump to live action. But writer-director Dean DeBlois (who co-directed the original with Chris Sanders and went solo for the rest of the trilogy) stays true to the heart of the film, making the best remake of its kind so far.

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TV Reviews

The Rehearsal Season 2 Episode 6 Review

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“My Controls”

  • Creator: Nathan Fielder
  • Starring: Nathan Fielder

Grade: A

Warning: This review of episode 6 of The Rehearsal will contain spoilers.

Episode 6 of The Rehearsal is the most audacious episode of television I’ve ever seen, transcending its premise to become a profound meditation on loneliness, while also being hysterically funny. I did not always view the season 2 finale this way; my first reaction was more apprehensive, more confused about what Nathan Fielder was trying to achieve. But after reading reviews, and listening to a podcast or two, of last week’s episode, I saw it from a different perspective.

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Movie Reviews

Fountain of Youth Review

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Fountain of Youth

  • Director: Guy Ritchie
  • Writer: James Vanderbilt
  • Starring: John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, Eiza González, Domhall Gleeson, Carmen Ejogo, Arian Moayed, Stanley Tucci

Grade: C-

For every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction. On the same weekend when Tom Cruise & Co. are defying death on the big screen, Guy Ritchie’s Fountain of Youth wasn’t even given the decency of a one-week theatrical run, and has been relegated to the AppleTV+ streamer. Whereas Christopher McQuarrie seeks to redefine action spectacle, Ritchie’s film never distinguishes itself as anything more than a clone of films like National Treasure or the Dan Brown/Robert Langdon series.

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Movie Reviews

Sister Midnight Review

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Sister Midnight

  • Director: Karan Kandhari
  • Writer: Karan Kandhari
  • Starring: Radhika Apte, Ashok Pathak, Chhaya Kadam, Smita Tambe, Navya Sawant

Grade: B+

As soon as Howlin’ Wolf’s “Moanin’ at Midnight” starts to play over the opening credits of Sister Midnight, it’s clear we’re in for a wild ride. It’s a strange juxtaposition, with a janglin’ blues song that would be more at home in a deep-fried Southern noir, and not a surrealist comedy about life on the fringes in Bombay, India. But somehow it works, and Karan Kandhari’s film continues to ride this tricky tightrope for its remaining 107 minutes.

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TV Reviews

The Rehearsal Season 2 Episode 5 Review

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“Washington”

  • Creator: Nathan Fielder
  • Starring: Nathan Fielder

Grade: B+

Warning: This review of episode 5 of The Rehearsal will contain spoilers.

How dramatic do we need a comedy show like The Rehearsal to be? To take it one step further beyond episode 5, what happens when a comedy show, or a comedian, suddenly takes things seriously? This week’s installment is easily the least humorous of season 2, but it shows Nathan Fielder’s genuine efforts to affect real change. Remember in episode 1, when Fielder first approached former NTSB member John Goglia, and his voiceover narration said that he would need to work extra hard to get someone to trust a comedian, working on a comedy show, seriously?

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