🍿 What to Watch This Weekend

Plus, a review of Wicked.

Happy Thursday! We’re back (and hopefully for good this time). I’m Karl. Every week I’ll send you a recommendation for two or three movies to stream. Plus, movie news, reviews of recent releases and more.

Now more than ever we don’t only need escape, but something to reflect and project our reality onto. In that way, movies are therapy.

This week, a couple uplifting movies to keep you going. Plus, a review of Wicked.

Love, Karl.

Streaming on Hulu

Thelma

Today’s first recommendation is one of my favorite hidden gems of the year, Josh Margolin’s comedy caper Thelma.

What’s it about: When 93-year-old grandmother Thelma Post (June Squibb) is conned out of $10,000, she takes matters into her own hands to get her money back. With help from her retirement home friend Ben (Richard Roundtree) and his motorized scooter, she treks across Los Angeles to reclaim her money and prove she can do it all on her own. Watch the trailer.

Why you should watch it: Thelma is one part delightful comedy of manners that only gets wilder and funnier as it goes on. June Squibb’s performance as the headstrong (but sometimes technologically-challenged) Thelma is hilarious as she tries to navigate a dangerous world (and yes, a set of stairs are the danger). Josh Margolin treats Thelma’s journey like an entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise, except instead of skydiving from the Burj Kalifa she’s trying to get a box from a high shelf.

However, what makes Thelma great is the other part of the story. One about resilience, the dignity of getting older and how our family’s underestimation can cut deep—at any age. Delightfully mad, surprisingly profound, and constantly entertaining, it’s one of the best movies of the year.

• 🎬 Written and directed by Josh Margolin

• 🎭 Starring June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Clark Gregg, Parker Posey, Malcolm McDowell

• ⏱️ 98 mins

▶ Stream on Hulu

Streaming on Hulu

Support the Girls

Today’s second recommendation is Andrew Bujalski’s dramedy Support the Girls. In a time where things feel hopeless, this movie reminds us of the power of community.

What’s it about: Support the Girls follows a group of women that work at Double Whammies, a sports bar and breastaurant (apparently this is the official term) in Texas, managed by underpaid and overworked Lisa (Regina Hall). But she loves her girls. Over a few days, we watch their highs and lows. Watch the trailer.

Why you should watch it: When it comes to movies with heart, Support the Girls might have the biggest heart of all. There’s not much of a plot to speak of—it’s just a day in the life of this diverse group of women—but what it lacks in story it makes up for in complex and deeply human characters that leave you wanting to be a better friend, co-worker, and person. It also helps the Regina Hall gives the best performance of her career (even better than this) and one of the best of the decade.

As one character notes, you cry until you laugh and you laugh until you scream. If Support the Girls wants you to walk away with one thing it’s that it’s okay to do all those things. Life is frustrating. Just take it one day at a time. Read my full review.

• 🎬 Written and directed by Andrew Bujalski

• 🎭 Starring Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, James LeGros, Shayna McHayle, Dylan Gelula, AJ Michalka

• ⏱️ 91 mins

▶ Stream on Hulu

In Theaters

‘Wicked’ defies expectations, a fearless movie-musical

In recent years, there's been a troubling trend of studios shying away from marketing their movie-musicals as… well, musicals. The Mean Girls remake famously didn't show any songs in its trailer (and some audience members were shocked when the characters started singing), and director Todd Phillips humorously insisted his movie Joker: Folie à Deux wasn't a musical. When asked to describe it he basically defined what a musical is. That's why director Jon M. Chu's adaptation of the Broadway hit Wicked(sometimes subtitled The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz) is such a refreshing and magical experience. With expansive, dynamic musical numbers that fill the screen, a fast-paced rhythm, and larger-than-life characters, Wicked is proudly and unapologetically a musical.

Read the full review →

📽 P.S. You can see every movie I’ve ever recommended right here.
🍅 I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes! You can find new movie reviews here and here.
🔗 Find me on Letterboxd and Bluesky.

Is DUNE: PART TWO a masterpiece?

Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya return to the desert planet Arrakis this weekend. Is it worth a trip to the cinema?

The answer is a resounding “hell yeah!” screamed from atop a giant sandworm riding through the desert.

Dune: Part Two is the completion of the story of Paul Atreides as he fights for control of the desert planet Arrakis. While the first part of the saga was a hit with audiences and went on to win a leading six Oscars, the real test was adapting the complex and morally grey second half of Frank Hebert’s novel.

The result….

Quick cut: Dune: Part Two is a visceral masterpiece and one of the best science fiction movies ever made. Besides delivering a visually impressive assault on all the senses, it’s also a riveting political thriller and character study that struggles with morality, religion and power. Director Denis Villeneuve guides every facet of the movie—costumes, production design, visual effects, sound—to the very top of its craft.

Dune: Part Two is a The Empire Strikes Back or The Return of the King-level event. A science fiction classic in the making that’ll inspire the next generation of science fiction and fantasy films. Denis Villeneuve continues his unblemished filmography.

You can read my full review here →

Have a beautiful weekend!
Karl (@karl_delo)

📽 P.S. You can see every movie I’ve ever recommended right here.
🍅 I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes! You can find new movie reviews here and here.

What to Watch This Valentine's Day 💘

A movie about dreaded wedding season, an analysis of a 2023 favorite and a playlist for those longing for something more

Happy Valentine’s Day to all the yearners, hopeful romantics and the… happy couples… I guess.

To celebrate, I’m recommending an unsung romantic-comedy and a couple other articles to get you through this chilly evening.

With love, Karl.

What to Watch: Plus One

Today’s movie is Jeff Chan & Andrew Rhymer’s rom-com Plus One. For those yearning for the days when you’d have to go to ten weddings a year this one will hit your right in the gut. Don’t worry, when this is all over you’re in for one hell of a wedding season.

What’s it about: Plus One follows two single friends (PEN15’s Maya Erskine and The Boys’ Jack Quaid) — one recently dumped and the other a commitment-phobe — who agree to be each other’s plus one for the ten weddings they have to attend that summer. One thing leads to another and… well, you know how it goes.

Why you should watch it: The rom-com works best when it’s character-driven and has a fresh perspective, both of which Plus One has. However, it also helps that the movie is so incredibly funny and filled with sharp one-liners delivered with precision by Maya Erskine and Jack Quaid. But it’s Erskine who really steals the show with one great sarcastic quip after another. Read my full review.

“I cried… but I cry every day, so it doesn’t mean anything” — Me (but also Erskine in the movie)

It’s not perfect. The story drags in the third act and it falls into some genre cliches. But, for the most part, Plus One is a hilarious and, dare I say, relatable take on the classic romantic comedy formula with enough gags to keep you hooked.

▶ Where to stream Plus One

What to Read: Analyzing Past Lives

Best Picture nominee Past Lives crosses decades and cities to tell the story of two childhood friends that may have missed their chance at true love. Or did they?

My best friend and fellow movie over-analyzer Ana breakdown the romance, what it means and whether there is a “right person.”

Read the article →

What to Listen to: A Playlist Inspired by Call Me By Your Name

Yearning for a forbidden love? Trying to get over an ex? Dreaming of a perfect Italian summer? We’ve got a playlist for you.

Inspired by Luca Guadagnino’s 2017 romance Call My By Your Name, Ana curated a perfectly tailored playlist to bring you through the love, confusion, longing and heartbreak of the story.

Listen to the playlist →

Bonus! Bottoms is now on Prime Video.

Emma Seligman’s vision of high school in Bottoms is equal parts satiric and surreal. Like if Luis Buñel directed The Breakfast Club or Andrei Tarkovsky directed Clueless. The pure absurdity of Bottoms is something to marvel at. Like the movie’s tagline suggests — “a movie about empowering women (the hot ones)” — it’s completely aware of the near-parody that it is. And thanks to Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott’s performances that cement them even further as our brightest rising stars, Bottoms rides on top for most of its runtime.
Read my full review →

📽 P.S. You can see every movie I’ve ever recommended right here.
🍅 I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes! You can find new movie reviews here and here.

🍿 A thriller to stream this weekend

Happy Thursday and welcome back to Smash Cut, the internet’s most consistently inconsistent movie newsletter. If you’re new here I’m your host Karl. Every Thursday I recommend my favorite movies available to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, or HBO Max. Think of me of that friend you text on a weeknight when you just poured yourself a bottle of wine and want a movie to cry to. Love, Karl.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by our gorgeous friends at Paramount+. Try Paramount+ free for one week and stream some of my faves like Babylon, Black Bear, Top Gun: Maverick, Scream VI, and much more.

---

Today’s movie: Fair Play 💼

▶︎ Streaming on Netflix (Oct 6)

What it’s about: Emily (Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) are a crazy, sexy, cool couple drunk (and horny) on their recent engagement that they have to keep secret since they work together at a highly competitive hedge fund firm. But when Emily is promoted over Luke, insecurity, competition and jealousy threaten to destroy their relationship. Here’s the trailer.

Why you should watch it: Fair Play plays like a ticking time bomb as the couple’s relationship is put under the strain of Luke’s arrogance and Emily’s ambition.

It’s the balancing of those two threads that make the movie — particularly writer director Chloe Domont’s sharp screenplay — so impressive. At times, the movie is a corporate barnburner about Emily navigating her newfound success as a woman in an industry that is decidedly a boy’s club. In others, it’s a darkly funny psychosexual relationship drama about how deviations from the traditional gender dynamics can send men into a tailspin — let’s just say Luke probably loved Joker. And at its most satisfying, both worlds come careening together as the pair navigate the minefield of their relationship in the workplace.

Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich give powerhouse performances that give the melodrama some much needed gravitas. Cutthroat, sharp and entertaining as hell, Chloe Domont didn't come to play.

Read my full review here →

🎬 Chloe Domont // 🖊 Chloe Domont // 🎭 Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan, and Rich Sommer

---

More movies, less problems

Here are a few more movies that I loved recently, in theaters or streaming:

• 🥊 Bottoms
  Emma Seligman’s vision of high school in Bottoms is equal parts satiric and surreal. Like if Luis Buñel directed The Breakfast Club or Andrei Tarkovsky directed Clueless. The pure absurdity of Bottoms is something to marvel at. Like the movie’s tagline suggests — “a movie about empowering women (the hot ones)” — it’s completely aware of the near-parody that it is. And thanks to Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott’s performances that cement them even further as our brightest rising stars, Bottoms rides on top for most of its runtime.
  Read my full review →

• 💔 Passages
  Passages follows a narcissistic director who can’t stand when people in his real life don’t follow the script he’s written in his head (i.e. every sad Brooklyn boy who’s “working on a script”). With darkly funny humor and painfully relatable characters, writer-director Ira Sachs crafts a sharp and incisive movie about gay men, relationships and the entanglements we find ourselves in.
  Read my full review →

• 🇺🇸🇬🇧 Red, White & Royal Blue
  Red, White & Royal Blue is every bit as corny and sappy as you’d expect for a romantic comedy with a premise as improbable as the First Son of the United States and the Prince of Great Britain falling in love — but it’ll have you grinning from ear to ear. With a clear queer perspective and strong chemistry between Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine, it’s almost impossible to resits.
  Read my full review →

---

📽 P.S. You can see every movie I’ve ever recommended right here.
🍅 I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes! You can find new movie reviews here and here.

A quirky rom-com ❤️ to stream this weekend

Happy Friday and welcome back to Smash Cut, the internet’s most consistently inconsistent movie newsletter. If you’re new here I’m your host Karl. Every Thursday I recommend my favorite movies available to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, or HBO Max. Think of me of that friend you text on a weeknight when you just poured yourself a bottle of wine and want a movie to cry to. Love, Karl.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by our gorgeous friends at Paramount+. Try Paramount+ free for one week and stream some of my faves like Babylon, Black Bear, Top Gun: Maverick, Scream, and much more.

---

Today’s movie: Rye Lane ❤️‍🩹

▶︎ Streaming on Hulu

What it’s about: Quiet pushover Don (David Jonsson) and energetic extrovert Yas (Vivian Oparah), two recently-singly twenty-somethings, fatefully meet in an art gallery. What starts as a stroll through their neighborhood Rye Lane turns into a mission to get back at their exes, karaoke jam, and maybe romance? Here’s the trailer.

Why you should watch it: There’s magic in the way that director Raine Allen-Miller portrays the South London neighborhood Rye Lane. It’s a splash of color and music and personalities. As Don and Yas stroll through the neighborhood, much like Jesse and Celine in Vienna in Before Sunrise, there’s something interesting going on in the background. Whether it’s kids playing or a couple arguing there’s life happening around them. Meanwhile, Dom and Yas’ lives are on pause. Their conversation, constantly charming, funny and poignant, challenges both of their beliefs around love and intimacy. With quippy one-liners, hilarious flashbacks, and two nightmare exes, Rye Lane is impossible resist.

🎬 Raine Allen-Miller // 🖊 Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia // 🎭 David Jonsson, Vivian Oparah, Simon Manyonda, Karene Peter, Benjamin Sarpong-Broni, Malcolm Atobrah, Alice Hewkin, Poppy Allen-Quarmby

---

🍷 Loved Rye Lane or already watched it? Try:

• When Harry Met Sally | Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) share a ride from Chicago to New York City where they’re both starting new chapters of their lives. Over the course of their journey they discuss love, sex, and friendship — little do they know that conversation will go on for eleven years. Streaming on HBO Max.

---

Bonus: Babylon 🎭

▶ Streaming on Paramount+ (Click here to try free for seven days)

What it’s about: Starting in the 1920s silent-era of movies and ending in the 50s Golden Age, Babylon follows a group of dreamers from New Jersey-born aspiring actress Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) and Mexican-American film assistant Manny Torres (Diego Calva) through the rise and fall of silent movies — and the magic (and mess) of Old Hollywood. Here’s the trailer.

Why you should watch it: By the time the title card for Babylon roars onto screen we’ve seen every bodily fluid imaginable—blood, sweat, tears, cum, bile, spit, shit (both human and animal). There’s song, dance, contortion, acrobatics, and an elephant. Welcome to Hollywood circa the late 1920s. The film industry is hitting its stride and dreamers from all over converge to have their hopes crushed and realized. But that’s what all of the films in director Damien Chazelle’s short but prolific filmography are about—people fighting to realize their dreams. As Jean Smart’s character describes Nellie, Babylon is “a confluence of bad taste and pure magic.” Read my full review here.

---

📽 P.S. You can see every movie I’ve ever recommended right here.
🍅 I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes! You can find new movie reviews here and here.