Movie Reviews
Monster movie review: Hirokazu Kore-eda’s tender and masterful plea for acceptance is one of the best films of the year
Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s best works offer tender, illuminating portraits of the many moods of childhood. He’s a master of capturing the mundane, the specific everyday-ness of human experience. His new film Monster (Kaibutsu), which first had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year, at first seems to follow the same road. Yet, as the Rashomon-esque drama unravels, Monster becomes a compelling reminder of the power of perspective, woven within the repeating events of the same days, told from three angles. (Also read: Upgraded movie review: Camilla Mendes leads this spirited yet formulaic romantic comedy)
The structure and premise
Monster begins with Minato Mugino (Soya Kurokawa), who has begun to act strangely around his single mother Saori (Sakura Ando). She is witness to his hair-cutting tendencies and tracks him down to an abandoned tunnel by the hills. A well-intentioned comment drives Mugino to jump out of the moving car. Saori suspects that he is being bullied at school, and registers a complaint to the principal Makiko Fushimi (an unforgettable Yūko Tanaka), against a certain teacher there, named Mr. Hori (Eita Nagayama).
Why has Mr Hori called him ‘pig brain’? The explanation then leads to the second act, which shifts the perspective through the point of view of Mr. Hori himself. Although he has shared that it was Minato who was a bully to another student in the class- the sensitive Yori (Hinata Hiiragi), is there more to his story? Its a thornier angle, where he is wronged in an insidious system that is governed by adults. He is forced to give a formal apology, but it does not provide any explanation to the many loose ends that still stick out.
Once the screenplay, a masterwork in recalibration of incidents and perspectives by Sakamoto Yuji (that won him the Best Screenplay at Cannes), directs its gaze towards the reality between Minato and Yori, Monster reveals what is really going on. The two kids have a soft spot for each other, although how they respond to that is contrasting. The third part is the film’s most unforgettable segment, and although Monster takes its own sweet time to arrive there, stay with it. Assemble the bits and pieces of information scattered through the three segments. It all comes together to form a jewel of a film.
Final thoughts
Breathtakingly vivid in the scenes involving a fairytale-ish, abandoned carriage that the kids share, far away from the gaze of adults, Minato and Yori build a precious bond. A particularly moving and profound scene appears when Minato and Makiko meet and share a moment by themselves in the school’s music room. “Happiness is something anyone can have,” she tells him. “If it’s not for everyone, that’s not happiness.” The emotional intelligence with which this particular insight fits into the web of Monster is a thing of beauty.
Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s rousing, intimate score marvelously plays out to withstand the many moods and feelings of this film. Monster invites the viewer’s worst assumptions on its characters, and gently makes space for empathy and consideration along the way. It shows how truth can exist in different forms and layers, often guided by circumstance and impulse. The world that Monster creates, expands to allow those assumptions, and then lifts the shadow over the unforeseen reality. Ever so gentle and quiet in its treatment, Hirokazu Kore-eda has delivered a soulful, humanist drama; and one of the very best films of the year.
Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment! 🎞️🍿💃 Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel 📲 Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place
Movie Reviews
8News Reel Talk: ‘Toy Story 5’ movie review
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — In this episode of 8News Reel Talk, Julia Broberg sits down with Hekla Petursson and Catori Ryan to talk about “Toy Story 5.”
The hosts gave their reviews and provided the following star ratings:
Catori: ★★★★
Hekla: ★★★★★
Julia: ★★★★.2
To watch more livestreams and digital video content, head to the WRIC+ Originals page. You can also watch full on-demand videos on your smart TV using the WRIC+ app.
Movie Reviews
Mark Jenkin’s ‘ROSE OF NEVADA’ – Movie Review – PopHorror
Rose of Nevada is a genuinely poetic movie that pushes the boundaries of the Groundhog Day-style time-travel narrative while carving out an identity completely its own. Rather than relying on the familiar mechanics that audiences have come to expect from the genre, the film approaches the concept through a more reflective and emotional lens. The result is a movie that feels thoughtful, ambitious, and surprisingly moving.
It makes a huge on-screen presence felt through its cast, particularly George MacKay and Callum Turner, who both deliver performances that elevate the material beyond a simple science-fiction premise. Combined with breathtaking visuals and a strong directorial vision, Rose of Nevada becomes something far more memorable than many of its genre contemporaries.
George MacKay continues to prove why he is one of the most compelling actors working today. Following his acclaimed work in 1917, he once again demonstrates an ability to carry a film through sheer presence and emotional authenticity.
Every scene feels grounded because of his performance, even when the story ventures into more abstract territory. Alongside him, Callum Turner delivers what could easily be viewed as a breakout performance. The chemistry between the two leads helps anchor the film, allowing audiences to connect with the characters even as the narrative challenges conventional storytelling expectations.
One of the film’s greatest strengths is its visual presentation. The cinematography is nothing short of earth-shattering. Nearly every frame looks like a carefully crafted painting, capturing both the beauty and mystery of the world these characters inhabit. There is a dreamlike quality to the imagery that perfectly complements the film’s themes of time, memory, and destiny.
The camera lingers on landscapes just long enough to allow viewers to soak in their beauty without ever slowing the pace. It’s the kind of cinematography that demands to be appreciated on the largest screen possible.
Director Mark Jenkin continues to establish himself as one of the most distinctive voices in modern British cinema. Following the atmospheric and haunting Enys Men, Jenkin once again crafts a story that feels deeply connected to folklore and place.
The British backdrop becomes a character in itself, with rugged coastlines, open landscapes, and isolated locations contributing to the film’s unique atmosphere. His direction never feels showy or excessive; instead, he trusts the audience to absorb the experience and interpret its deeper meanings.
What makes Rose of Nevada especially fascinating is how it recalls classic time-travel films without simply copying them. There are moments that evoke the spirit of The Final Countdown, particularly in the sense of wonder and uncertainty surrounding the temporal elements.
Yet the film remains firmly rooted in its own identity, focusing more on emotion and introspection than spectacle. It invites viewers to engage with its ideas rather than simply consume them.
This is also one of those rare films that benefits from reflection after the credits roll. It is not a movie designed to provide easy answers. Instead, it lingers in the mind, encouraging discussion and interpretation. The more time you spend thinking about it, the more rewarding it becomes. Much like a fine wine, Rose of Nevada continues to improve with age, revealing new layers and details upon reflection.
Overall, Rose of Nevada is a beautiful, ambitious, and visually stunning piece of filmmaking that deserves to be experienced on the big screen. Powered by exceptional performances, remarkable cinematography, and confident direction, it stands as one of the more unique takes on time travel in recent memory.
Overall Grade: 4/5 Stars
Movie Reviews
‘Supergirl’ review: DC Studios serves up a second less-than-super movie
James Gunn isn’t exactly crushing it.
Named co-chairman and chief executive officer of the newly formed DC Studios in 2022, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” filmmaker wrote and directed the division of Warner Bros. Discovery’s largely disappointing “Superman,” released last year.
This week, DC Studios’ second big-screen affair, “Supergirl,” lands in theaters with similarly underwhelming results.
‘Superman’ review: James Gunn gets DCU off to rocky, overstuffed start
Starring Milly Alcock as the movie’s namesake Kryptonian heroine — who also goes by Kara Zor-El and is the cousin of David Corenswet’s Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El — “Supergirl” isn’t distractingly zany the way its 2025 sister film was. Instead, it’s tonally boring, a chore of a movie chock full of thinly drawn characters and increasingly bombastic and violent.
To be clear, Gunn isn’t at the helm for “Supergirl.” Instead, it’s the typically dependable Craig Gillespie (“I, Tonya,” “Cruella”), working from a script by Ana Nogueira, making her less-than-impressive feature-writing debut.
This planet-hopping adventure in the new DC Universe isn’t a complete space wreck, however, thanks largely to the spunky performance by Aussie Alcock, best known for portraying the younger Rhaenyra Targaryen in the early episodes of HBO’s “House of the Dragon.”
When we catch up with Kara, she’s basically as we left her late in “Superman”: a super-sized mess. She’s out with her beloved, rambunctious dog, Krypto — the peppy and powerful pup having already been a major player in “Superman” — and enjoying a 23rd-birthday pub crawl among planets under a red sun. (Quick reminder: Supergirl, like Superman, draws her incredible powers from a yellow sun, like Earth’s, so she’s at least vaguely normal under a red sun and, importantly, can become intoxicated. The color of suns is a major factor throughout “Supergirl,” and it’s the movie’s most inventive narrative element.)
It is on such a world where a drunken Kara encounters 13-year-old Ruthye Marye Knoll of the Danastia Clan (Eve Ridley), whose family has just been brutally slain by the ruthless Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts). Understandably, Ruthye wants revenge against Krem — leader of the Brigants, a band of male pirates and traffickers — and can think of little else.
She’s offering anyone who will help a sword made by her family of skilled weapons makers. The beyond-buzzed Kara isn’t interested, but she gets involved when a scumbag type tries to take the sword. She continues to do her best to fend off Ruthye’s subsequent pleas for assistance in her quest to kill Krem, but when the baddie — in the process of stealing her floating RV of a spaceship — shoots a charging Krypto with a poison dart, Kara has designs on punishing him, too. In fact, she needs to retrieve the specific antidote Krem carries with him to save her four-legged bud.
And so the gals are off to other worlds, initially traveling via the space equivalent of a beat-up Greyhound bus, on which they run into a trio of pillaging Sklarian Raiders. The sequence in which Kara retrieves stolen possessions and extracts information from them is as zany as “Supergirl” gets.
As their trek through the stars warps on, Kara and Ruthye encounter Lobo (Jason Momoa, seemingly leaving his Aquaman character back in the defunct DC Extended Universe), a rough-and-tumble, motorcycle-riding bounty hunter. They team up — sort of, eventually — but their alliance of convenience is one of the flick’s myriad plot threads that fail to tie into a sturdy knot.
The screenplay by Nogueira — an actor who’s penned a pair of plays — attempts to explore why Kara is so jaded by taking us back to her childhood in the Kryptonian city Argo, protected by her father’s tech after the planet’s demise. Of course, that protection proved to be temporary, or she wouldn’t have eventually been sent to Earth like her cousin before her. It’s lukewarm fare, with Kara eventually learning the familiar Spider-Man lesson — with great power comes great responsibility.
Gillespie adds a few nice touches from the director’s chair throughout the movie, but they’re too little to elevate the proceedings.
Again, Alcock — whose credits also include the recent Netflix limited series “Sirens” — does what she can with the material. It’s a demanding role, as she is on screen for most of the movie, and is spirited in it.
Unfortunately, the lesser-known Ridley — making her feature debut following a few television appearances — is given even less to work with. We never learn much about the one-note Ruthye beyond that her family was killed in her presence and that she is really upset about it.
If you’re expecting the always-lively Momoa to save the day, he brings his larger-than-life presence to Lobo, but the demon-like figure isn’t very interesting. A mix between Aquaman and his Khal Drogo from “Game of Thrones,” the longtime DC Comics character isn’t anything you wouldn’t expect here.

If there’s another bright spot in the cast, it’s Schoenaerts (“Rust and Bone,” “The Old Guard”), who brings a touch of nuance to the villainous Krem. You may have expected a bigger name to play the big bad in this second DC Universe big-screen effort, but some of the acting choices the Belgian makes keep things vaguely engaging when he’s within the frame.

Sadly, vaguely engaging is the best “Supergirl” can manage.
We’ll see if Gunn can turn things around, starting with the HBO series “Lanterns” in August and the horror-tinged film “Clayface” in October, before he returns to direct Corenswet, Alcock and the rest of the “Superman” gang in “Man of Tomorrow,” arriving a little more than a year from now.
We’re hoping for super results, but, at this point, it’s tough to say we’re expecting them.
‘Supergirl’
Where: Theaters.
When: June 26.
Rated: PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, action, language, and smoking.
Runtime: 1 hour, 48 minutes.
Stars (of four): 2.
-
Denver, CO6 minutes agoRTD to bring back BroncosRide bus service after 5-year suspension
-
Seattle, WA9 minutes agoFOLLOWUP: Sound Transit Board finalizes $400+ million spending installment for West Seattle light rail
-
San Diego, CA14 minutes agoStreetsblog San Diego Launches July 27 — Help Us Build the Future of Transportation Journalism – Streetsblog California
-
Milwaukee, WI21 minutes agoMilwaukee residents demand permanent fixes as city logs record pothole repairs
-
Atlanta, GA24 minutes ago
Seahawks Travel To Atlanta And Alabama For A Civil Rights Learning Tour
-
Minneapolis, MN29 minutes agoMinneapolis City Council approves 5-month pause on data center development
-
Indianapolis, IN36 minutes agoIndiana veteran completes 250-mile march for semiquincentennial
-
Pittsburg, PA39 minutes agoHoffmann family makes very good first impression: ‘You will win in Pittsburgh’