Author: Derrick Murray

There are always more movies to see, and this year I am proud to share that I will be attending the Sundance Film Festival in person. That’s right, Nerdbot will be on the ground, seeking out some of the best independent voices working in cinema. Sundance is unique as the first major festival of the season, setting the precedent for what we can expect for the rest of the year in film. International cinema, drama, thriller, comedy, directorial debuts and fascinating documentaries all make up the 2025 line up, and we’ve got some docs that we want to put on…

“Better Man” may be conventional on paper, but its unconventional packaging delivers a wallop of entertainment often missing from these kinds of things.

While I remain a staunch advocate for the theatrical experience as the primary way to enjoy cinema, I’ve long missed a lot of these special screenings of classics – both cult and populous – that have become prevalent as of late. These screenings celebrate milestones of cinema, be it restoration, special format or anniversaries. “Se7en” celebrates all three, being restored for theatrical viewing, formatted for IMAX, and turns 30 this year. A seminal entry into the thriller genre and David Fincher’s distinct directorial career, “Se7en” remains one of the best of its kind, with no amount of time passed hinders…

As the growing number of films I see each year grows, so does the challenge of creating a best of list. Even in years where it seems like there are a ton of 3.5 star films, it is still incredibly difficult to get the some 50+ films I really enjoyed down to 25. I was originally shooting for 20 films this year, a small increase over 2023, and decided to increase it even more for a few reasons. One, there were just too many films left on the honorable mentions list that it made more sense to just include them…

“The Brutalist” is a beautiful, profound, devastating journey that shatters our preconceived notions of experience and ideals of the American dream, utilizing the core of architecture as the construction and deconstruction of both the film’s themes and its characters.

Christmas Day is always a big release day for movies. There’s always a prognosticated awards contender that shows up around this time, and theaters bank on the holiday traffic of family outings and traditions, and this year is no different. The theaters are poised to be stacked with a wide array of new releases, with everything from a sports biopic to a music biopic to the failed attempt at “Barbenhiemer” title mashing “Babyratu.” With so much happening on a single day, we’ve got you covered with what to prioritize and what’s good, bad and/or indifferent. Since we’ve already reviewed “Nosferatu,”…

I know how we get about end of year lists, particularly those that highlight the not so great outings of the year. I get it, making movies is hard. But that doesn’t automatically except bad movies from criticism, and not all “Worst of” or “Disappointing” lists are as cruel as the Razzies. If it’s any consolation, it was much harder to find 10 films I really disliked this year enough to put on a naughty list. Some of that is personal selection and active avoidance of films that simply didn’t interest me, but my Best of 2024 list is 30…

“Nickel Boys” is a masterpiece unmatched and moving in ways that stir the soul, rips you apart and rather than put you back together again, leaves you with yourself to decide what you’re going to do next. It doesn’t get better than this, folks.

“Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim” may be a middling return to middle earth, but it is better than most and better than most would expect, standing tall above its previous counter parts and only below the original trilogy.

The awards season is upon us, which means every film from every studio is in full campaign mode. This means that screenings, releases, interviews, BTS clips etc are flooding the interwebs and marketing, making it nearly impossible to keep up with it all to review it properly. I would love to tell you that I have time to review each and every film individually, but the post TIFF catch up has been even more daunting than ever and I simply don’t have the bandwidth to cover everything the way I would want. Nevertheless, I can give some quick reviews on…