Tag: Paul Mescal

Film Feature: Carrie’s Top 10 Films of 2025

With Oscar nominations announced in just a few short weeks on January 22nd, Spinning Platters closes out the year by weighing in with our own Best Films of 2025! Check out fellow critic Chad Liffmann’s Top 20 here, and read on below for my Top 10:

10. BOB TREVINO LIKES IT

Way back in March, I boldly predicted that this understated but powerful film would secure a spot on my Top 10 list. Despite the many outstanding movies that followed since then, I always remembered this well-told, empathetic story about loneliness, unexpected connections, and found family. Released early in the year, the picture seems to have been forgotten at awards time, which is unfortunate. It deserves a wide audience.

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Film Review: “Hamnet”

Buckley is the engine powering this emotionally condensed drama

Agnes (Jessie Buckley) waits for Hamlet to start in ‘Hamnet.’

Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling book Hamnet was a literary sensation, and quickly sparked rumors of an inevitable movie adaptation. When Oscar winner Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) was announced as Hamnet’s director, followed by the casting of Oscar nominees Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter) and Paul Mescal (Aftersun) in the starring roles, expectations shot through the roof. Now that Zhao’s Hamnet is finally arriving in theaters, does it live up to the hype? The answer is a soft ‘yes.’ Through a tremendously powerful performance from Buckley and a deeply emotional script, Hamnet reproduces the story’s inherent drama even as it strips away any narrative complexities. Continue reading “Film Review: “Hamnet””

Film Review: “Gladiator II”

Gladiator II forgoes emotion in favor of blood and spectacle

In the summer of 2000, Gladiator reinvigorated audiences’ desire for the sword-and-sandal epic. This subgenre had mostly been relegated to the “classics” section of movie rental stores, with the likes of Spartacus and Conan the Barbarian. And yet, the subgenre died out again after the Gladiator copies had their swings at glory in the early-2000s. Unfortunately, very few directors like Sir Ridley Scott have the talent to produce a sword-and-sandal epic. So here we find ourselves, in 2024, and Sir Ridley is again hoping to re-popularize the subgenre with Gladiator II, a sequel to the Best Picture and Best Actor Oscar-winning 2000 film. While undoubtedly entertaining from start to finish and featuring a stellar Denzel Washington performance, Gladiator II suffers from the flaws of “sequelitis” and an insecurity about whether audiences recall the original film. Continue reading “Film Review: “Gladiator II””

Film Feature: Carrie’s Top 10 Films of 2023

Here’s what you’ve been waiting for: my 2023 cinematic favorites! You can also check out fellow film critic Chad Liffmann’s list here to compare and contrast and see who you agree with more. Will Oscar voters agree with us? We’ll find out when the nominations are announced on January 23rd!

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Film Review: “All of Us Strangers”

You were always on my mind: Haigh’s latest is a consummate tale of overcoming loss

Adam (Andrew Scott, l.) begins a relationship with his neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal).

Back in 2017, in my review of the lackluster film A Ghost Story, I declared that Manchester by the Sea was the “finest movie about grief ever made.” Fast forward to the present day, however, and I now retract my statement. Writer/director Andrew Haigh’s devastating new film All of Us Strangers has usurped that designation, and at this point I can’t fathom that another picture could even come close to knocking it out of position. An emotionally wrenching, achingly true, and deeply affecting story about trauma, grief, and memory, Haigh’s film is one of the year’s best.

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