pedro pascal – Spinning Platters

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: “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”

Third time’s a (fantastic) charm!

Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) turns from the fire.

It’s the third (released) attempt at a Fantastic Four movie, and after two truly embarrassing attempts, this time Marvel Studios got it right. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the best Marvel feature film since Avengers: Endgame. The Fantastic Four could have been an interesting and worthwhile introduction to a new phase of the MCU, in its aesthetic, tone, and multiversal angle, had it been released following Endgame. Unfortunately, here we are, with a decade-long experience of watching Marvel cinematic fodder, constantly lowering expectations, and suffering from superhero fatigue. Luckily, Fantastic Four: First Steps pushes through any worry and/or fatigue with a fun, concise (don’t think about the plot too much!), and beautifully constructed story setting with the best character chemistry since the first Avengers film. Continue reading “Film Review: “The Fantastic Four: First Steps””

Film Review: “Materialists”

Celine Song’s second feature explores the modern-day dating marketplace

Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and Harry (Pedro Pascal) share an expensive moment.

On the surface, a summer romance starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal sounds like a big budget studio comedy. However, adding in an independent distributor, A24, and an award-winning writer/director, Celine Song (Past Lives), makes one ponder if there’s something weightier behind the cast and genre. Materialists is Song’s second feature film, following her 2023 Best Picture nominated drama, Past Lives. Song’s indisputable knack for crafting intimate, complex connections between characters (she’s an accomplished playwright…and was a matchmaker, briefly…more on that later) is on full display in Materialists. Her skill as a writer, and how she directs her actors, distinguish her films from other romantic dramas with comparable emotional narratives. Materialists has much to say about modern-day dating, and through Song’s observant lens, her viewpoint makes for a rewarding viewing experience. Continue reading “Film Review: “Materialists””

Film Review: “Freaky Tales”

Oakland and Berkeley real stars of fantastical ’80s period piece

A crowd of punk music fans prepares to defend Berkeley’s 924 Gilman.

I’m not sure how well Freaky Tales will play in middle America, but for those of us who live or grew up in the Oakland area–especially in the late 1980s–the movie is like our own personal valentine. Weird, wild, and more than a little crazy, the Oakland and Berkeley-set film is a rousing ode to Mayor Lionel Wilson’s Oakland, with its attendant complex mix of charm, edge, creativity, and simmering racism and misogyny.
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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 Review: “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”

Basking in the total Nick Cageness of Nick Cage

He's reached total Cage — He’s reached total Cage.

If you live in California, Nicolas Cage is a Prius. If you live in Alabama, Nicolas Cage is an F-150. If you live in Colorado, Nicolas Cage is a Subaru. Ubiquitous, omnipresent, universal don’t begin to describe his career. Simple descriptors, most adjectives, even words themselves, fail to cover the sheer, gargantuan, remark-ability of the man’s effect on our collective souls. Continue reading “Film Review: “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent””

Film Review: The Great Wall

White male hero leads dumpster fire movie to a forgettable fate.

I chose the above picture for very specific reasons. I could’ve chosen a more beautiful shot of a heroic looking Matt Damon atop The Great Wall of China. But no, I preferred this one for the way it captures the feeling one has while watching The Great Wall — the feeling of trudging through the sewer, acting unfazed while knowing deep down that the journey will result in nothing but a sh*tty mess. If you were considering watching The Great Wall as a fun activity this weekend (or at some point), let me save you the two hours you’d never get back. First, The Great Wall is offensive for its white savior narrative. Second, it’s poorly shot and edited. And third, it features cartoonish special effects and thus can’t even manage to string together two minutes of respectable cinema without an embarrassing element restarting the clock.

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