Week Ending 2/7/25
Sundance 2025
Thanks to a few overzealous stans leaking scenes from Dylan O’Brien’s Twinless and the Selena documentary Selena y Los Dinos, this might prove my final Sundance dispatch. The festival’s decision to pull those titles due to copyright infringement doesn’t guarantee their virtual experiment (begun during the COVID shutdown) will come to close (vouchers to see another title were offered rather than refunds to ensure no revenue was lost), but it doesn’t look good when every other festival of its pedigree ceased years ago.
It’s also not really the festival’s call alone. While they’ve held strong thus far despite certain titles skipping Sundance specifically because producers didn’t want their films to be made available online, this development might dry that well completely. Sure, there’s a chance of the opposite happening too—more titles clamoring to fill the void and earn the label of “Sundance Selection”—but it’s a slim one.
While my love of cinema would be sad about the missed opportunity moving forward, my wallet’s happiness will counteract the sorrow. I didn’t catch the price increase this year until after I had already checked out with the below six films. Tickets were $25 each last year and $35 this year—a steep increase. So, considering that revenue stream will be the biggest reason Sundance doesn’t shutter the virtual program, I wouldn’t be shocked to find a $45 or higher price tag next year to justify it.
Either way, the cinephiles lose out because idiots wanted to commit crimes for extra social media clout. A depressing state of affairs.
What I Watched:
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2025
ATROPIA
U.S. Dramatic Competition - World Premiere
“So, enjoy the comedy. It’s not as biting as you might hope, but it is entertaining. This is especially true when mocking the ways this farce can be exploited or go wrong”
– Full thoughts at jaredmobarak.com.
BY DESIGN
NEXT Program - World Premiere
“By Design has a lot to say and does so in a dryly comic way that both appeals to audiences with its satirical metaphors and alienates them via its performance art affectations, interpretative dance, and glacial pacing.”
– Full thoughts at jaredmobarak.com.
DIDN’T DIE
Midnight Program - World Premiere
“Yes, the gore factor is memorable, but it means nothing if we don’t learn to love the characters fighting off the inevitability that they’ll be next. It might take some time to get there, but I locked it as soon as it did.”
– Full thoughts at jaredmobarak.com.
LOVE, BROOKLYN
U.S. Dramatic Competition - World Premiere
“Things must get messy because life is messy, but Holder never lets it fall into cliché or melodrama. It's up to them to [the characters to] embrace this new day and move forward without looking back.”
– Full thoughts at jaredmobarak.com.
OMAHA
U.S. Dramatic Competition - World Premiere
“It leads to some fun conversations, a ton of shoplifting, and an infinite wealth of heart. And while Wright and Solis are the catalysts, you must give Magaro a ton of credit for fostering the latter with an unforgettable turn as a father without options.”
– Full thoughts at jaredmobarak.com.
RICKY
U.S. Dramatic Competition - World Premiere
“Ricky must believe himself to be worthy of their love before he can accept it, but the pain he holds threatens to make it impossible. James has never been better en route to giving that struggle the care it demands.”
– Full thoughts at jaredmobarak.com.
New Releases This Week:
(Review links where applicable)
Opening Buffalo-area theaters 2/7/25 -
Badass Ravi Kumar at Regal Elmwood
Becoming Led Zeppelin at Regal Transit
Bring Them Down at Regal Galleria, Transit & Quaker
The Count of Monte Cristo at North Park Theatre
Heart Eyes at Dipson Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Galleria, Transit & Quaker
I'm Still Here at Dipson Amherst; Regal Galleria, Transit & Quaker
“And it all hinges on Torres being able to pull off the internal emotional struggle to keep moving forward no matter what she discovers. Eunice is a woman who cannot afford to break.” – Full thoughts at jaredmobarak.com.
Love Hurts at Dipson Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Galleria, Transit & Quaker
Narayaneente Moonaanmakkal at Regal Elmwood
Renner at Regal Quaker
Thandel at Regal Elmwood & Transit
Vidaamuyarchi at Regal Elmwood & Transit
Streaming from 2/7/25 -
The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl – Disney+ on 2/7
We Live in Time – Max on 2/7
“Garfield and Pugh are also just plain adorable in their capacity to shed all pretense of celebrity and embody an everyman vibe ruled by desire. They're very funny in that way to alleviate the heavy weight that cancer holds on a movie like this too.” – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
Winner – Hulu on 2/7
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person – Shudder on 2/7
“Despite its darkly supernatural package, however, Louis-Seize's film adheres to its idiosyncratic tone of purposeful excitement for a future that’s hardly assured. Because death can be a beginning too.” – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
Omni Loop – Hulu on 2/11
“It's a much deeper role than you might initially assume, and Parker excels at delivering that complexity at the perfect moments. Edebiri, Harris Yulin, and the rest of the cast provide wonderful support, but this is Parker's film.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep – Netflix on 2/11
Death Before the Wedding – Netflix on 2/12
Honeymoon Crasher – Netflix on 2/12
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy – Peacock on 2/13
Broken Rage – Prime on 2/13
La Dolce Villa – Netflix on 2/13
My Fault: London – Prime on 2/13
Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius) – Hulu on 2/13
Now on VOD/Digital HD -
All We Imagine as Light (2/4)
“Kusruti and Prabha are great in these roles. You really get a sense of the conflict that drives them and the uncertainty of letting go from convention when toeing the line is quite literally a necessity for survival.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
Good Bad Things (2/4)
The Graduates (2/4)
September 5 (2/4)
“Therein lies the inherent commentary on display despite the film itself running pretty apolitically from start to finish. While mistakes [are made], they did not have the experience necessary to prevent them. [Today's media does, but doesn't care.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
Wish You Were Here (2/4)
Wolf Man (2/4)
Obsessed with Light (2/7)
Suze (2/7)