FOLLOWING FILMS

  Few television antiheroes have carved their niche into pop culture quite like Dexter Morgan. With his soft-spoken menace, rigid moral code, and disarmingly clinical charm, he became an icon of the Golden Age of Television. Dexter: Original Sin, the new prequel series on Paramount+ and Showtime, dives into the origin story of Miami’s favorite forensic analyst-slash-serial killer. It’s a bold, bloody resurrection—one that largely works, especially for longtime fans eager to see how the Dark Passenger was born. Set in 1991, the series begins with young Dexter (Patrick Gibson) navigating his final days as a pre-med student and wrestling with something far darker than career anxiety: the awakening of his homicidal urges. The central premise is clear from the first episode—Dexter isn’t just tempted to kill; he needs to. Under the guidance of his adoptive father Harry (Christian Slater), a world-weary Miami Metro homicide detective, Dexter begins to harness this urge through “The Code”—...

In The Friend, Scott McGehee and David Siegel deliver a tender, bittersweet meditation on grief, creativity, and unexpected companionship. Adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s award-winning novel, this quietly powerful film captures the complexities of loss and the strange, sometimes redemptive places where solace can be found. Led by a soulful performance from Naomi Watts and the remarkable on-screen presence of a Great Dane named Bing, The Friend is a deeply felt character study wrapped in the gentle absurdity of real life. Watts stars as Iris, a seasoned New York writer whose seemingly stable life is disrupted by the suicide of her longtime mentor and closest confidant, Walter (Bill Murray). As a final, bewildering gesture of their bond, Walter bequeaths his enormous and emotionally wounded dog, Apollo, to Iris—a self-described cat person living in a tiny apartment with a strict no-pets lease. What begins as an inconvenience quickly becomes something far more profound. Apollo, the grief-stri...

Andrew Ahn’s 2025 reimagining of The Wedding Banquet breathes vibrant, contemporary life into Ang Lee’s 1993 classic, proving that some stories—when handled with heart, humor, and vision—grow deeper with time. While the original film offered a poignant reflection on gay identity and familial obligation in a pre-marriage equality era, Ahn’s version builds upon that foundation, crafting a richer, more complex tapestry of queer experience, immigrant culture, and chosen family in a world where acceptance still carries weighty caveats. At its core, The Wedding Banquet (2025) is a screwball comedy of errors built on a foundation of very real, very modern anxieties: reproductive healthcare, green card limbo, generational trauma, and the fear of never being enough for the people we love. But what distinguishes Ahn’s version from so many modern remakes is that it doesn’t chase nostalgia. Instead, it revisits the soul of the original—its humanity, messiness, and quiet subversion—and expands it w...

Gilles Legardinier’s Mr. Blake at Your Service! is a whimsical, heartwarming film that melds English wit with French charm in a story about grief, healing, and rediscovery. Adapted from Legardinier’s own best-selling novel ( Complètement Cramé! ) and brought to life under his directorial guidance, the film offers a compelling blend of comedy, emotional depth, and feel-good nostalgia. With the legendary John Malkovich in the title role, the movie leans into its strengths—rich character interactions, quirky humor, and a universal message about second chances. At the center of this tale is Andrew Blake, a widowed English businessman who finds himself aimless and emotionally adrift after the death of his wife, Diane. Seeking solace, he travels to France to revisit the manor where he and Diane first fell in love. However, a misunderstanding turns his quiet pilgrimage into something far more unexpected—he ends up being mistaken for a domestic job applicant and is “hired” as a butler at the...

Today we’re going deep into the heart of Diablo — a lean, ferocious action-thriller starring Scott Adkins that lands today in theaters and on demand. Diablo is the story of Kris Chaney — a man fresh out of prison, carrying the weight of a promise and running from the kind of danger you can’t hide from. Directed by Ernesto Díazo Espinoza, the film mixes brutal martial arts choreography, a relentless villain, and a surprising emotional core. In this special episode, I’m joined first by Scott Adkins, who talks about the physical and emotional challenge of playing Kris — a man torn between violence and redemption. Then, I speak with Alanna de la Rossa, who plays Elisa — a pivotal role that grounds the story with vulnerability and strength. We dive into her experience on set, working opposite Adkins, and what it meant to represent her Colombian roots in an international action film. And finally, I close things out with director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, who shares his vision for Diablo — from ...

In Drop, director Christopher Landon (Freaky, Happy Death Day) crafts a nerve-wracking thriller centered on a devastating dilemma: would you take a life to save the ones you love? The story follows Violet, a widowed single mom attempting to re-enter the dating world after years of grief and recovery. Played with emotional precision by Meghann Fahy, Violet finds herself on a promising first date with the affable and seemingly genuine Henry (Brandon Sklenar) in an elegant, glass-walled Chicago restaurant. But their evening takes a sinister turn when Violet receives a disturbing message via a sleek, anonymous app called DigiDrop: if she doesn’t kill her date before the check arrives, her son and sister will die. What unfolds is a tightly wound 95-minute thriller that feels both classic and timely. The film builds its suspense through confinement, not action. Most of the story unfolds in real-time at their dinner table, creating a pressure-cooker environment that reflects Violet’s psycholo...