132: November 2025

Thanksgiving weekend in my neck of the woods means movies. My critics' circle will vote for our end-of-year awards in a week; my inbox has been awash with for-your-consideration screeners asking for my attention (and my votes). It's impossible to see everything, much less write about it all, but I wanted to highlight a few movies that I've seen and liked recently that you should seek out.

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain - A lovely French animated film about a little girl, the daughter of a Belgian diplomat, growing up in postwar Japan. Like My Neighbor Totoro before it, this movie gets the perspective of children. Incredibly lush colors wrap up a coming-of-age of sorts, if a story about a three-year-old counts as coming of age. Growing up means learning that you're not the center of the universe; sometimes it also means learning to love someone as though they actually are. In limited theatrical release, hopefully near you.

Is This Thing On? - Bradley Cooper's latest is proof positive that he's a big old softie. Will Arnett and Laura Dern star as a long-married couple who have recently decided to call it quits. Bereft and more than a little confused, Arnett's character starts doing stand-up comedy to process his own feelings. The stand-up isn't great (a lot of stand-up really isn't!) but that somehow makes the movie even funnier. Scheduled to be released in theaters December 19.

Rebuilding - One of four (4!) Josh O'Connor performances from this year; he's the lead in Wake Up Dead Man, by far the best thing about The History of Sound, and one of my favorite things about Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind. In Rebuilding, he plays a taciturn cowboy who's lost his ranch in a recent wildfire trying to reconnect with his daughter and his ex-wife. The film's slight, with an ending that feels just this side of too neat, but I needed it anyway. O'Connor's performance reminded me of my late grandfather, a decent man trying to do good. In limited theatrical release.

Splitsville - I'm not usually a rom-com/sex farce person but this one got me good with its dry sense of humor, excellent timing, and the funniest fight scene I've seen in some time. Some great one-take shots in here to go with the absurdist comedy. Available to rent or buy on streaming services.

What I wrote:

For Bright Wall/Dark Room, I wrote a column pairing Wake Up Dead Man (the new Knives Out movie in theaters now!) and Conclave.

Over at the Seeing & Believing newsletter, it's been a busy month: reviews of Train Dreams and Predator: Badlands, The Carpenter's Son, Wicked for Good, and Wake Up Dead Man. We'll be taking a brief hiatus this upcoming week, then back at it again with a few additional reviews before the end of the year.

What I talked about:

Authorized Podcast invited me back for a cookbook Friendsgiving. The podcast (for those unfamiliar) covers novelizations of movies; every American Thanksgiving, they switch gears to cover a movie tie-in cookbook. This year, we tried recipes from the A24 Scrounging cookbook, which is partly a loose collection of recipes and partly an aesthetic exercise. I learned how to keep a sourdough starter alive for this episode. I also got over my fear of frying batter in oil for this recipe. Tune in to hear how it turned out!