By: Henry J. Fromage –
My 2025 filmmaking odyssey starts off much like 2024 ended- with a mix of whatever the heck catches my fancy.
1. Handsome Guys
This is a Korean remake of Tucker & Dale vs Evil and if anything a more comedic take on the material. Of course, the very concept of Korean rednecks plays goofy from the jump (sure, there are farmers aplenty there, but none ones with built-in pop culture caricaturization like needed for this material. Anyway, bodies drop around these two shady-looking but sweet-hearted mooks through no fault of their own, plus eventually a devilish curse gets involved. It’s goofy fun. Three Beers.
2. The Peasants
The team behind Loving Vincent returns with their unique rotoscoped with oil paint style, this time to adapt Władysław Reymont’s Nobel Prize-winning about a Polish peasant girl who finds her beauty is her curse when her village’s landowner has an eye on her even as she has one with his well-muscled disowned married son. Relationships with men bring her nothing but strife and misfortune. It’s a gorgeous film and four-seasoned environment, but the heart of man is dark and petty. Two Beers.
3. Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes
This limited documentary series on Max recounts an expedition that attempted to cross South America and it’s widest point, from Ecuador to the Atlantic. Led by Israeli soldier of fortune Mickey Grosman, the horrifically underprepared normal folk soon discover this is much, much harder than they thought it’d be, and Grosman is an unforgiving taskmaster who’d just as soon drive them into the ground as give quarter (with a healthy charlatan streak to boot). It’s doomed from the start, but as it turns out, entertainingly so. Two Beers.
4. The People’s Joker
I saw this on enough 2024 best-of lists that I had to track it down. Vera Drew’s DIY, underground comedy aesthetic (she’s been the Editor on shows like Tim & Eric projects and I Think You Should Leave) is energetic and fun, as she creates an ersatz Gotham with which to tell the story of breaking up trans and trying to break into comedy. There’s many a sacred cow skewered here to good effect, although picking stand-up comedy as a through-line is bold when you have nobody cast who can actually do stand-up. Three Beers.
5. Nightbitch
I’m a big fan of both Marielle Heller and Amy Adams, but the source material, which I’m sure reads great on the page, utterly defeats them here. Pitched as an unvarnished, razor sharp exploration of the negative sides of motherhood, it instead comes off as the story of a financially stable stay-at-home Karen on steroids who is doing her damndest to raise a school shooter. The biggest upshot I got from it is if you’re a mom who wants free time, divorce your husband so he’s forced to take care of the kid on his own at least some of the time. A field guide for sociopaths. Five Beers.
6. Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy
It’s hard to scratch that Parts Unknown itch, but Stanley Tucci sure tries to in this two-season CNN travel series in which he endeavors to visit each province of Italy to explore how its unique culture and landscape has shaped its food scene. He tragically won’t get the chance to finish the job as it was canceled after just two seasons, but 14 episodes we did get were a treat. Two Beers.
7. Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico
Eva Longoria does the same for Mexico’s varied regional cuisine, although it’s not clear if she’ll have another season to explore beyond the 6 episodes the first gave us. In any case, she has very different vibes than Tucci or Bourdain, as you’d expect. It’s a bit more Sex in the City (or Desperate Housewives, I suppose) than are my vibes, but she still does a great job revealing different aspects of the local culture and delicious-looking food. Three Beers.
