Tony: An Anthony Bourdain biopic was inevitable. He was just too famous, compelling and beloved of a figure for Hollywood to not want to dramatize his life. Fortunately, Matt Johnson (Blackberry, Nirvanna the Band the Movie the Show) was the one who got hired to make it and under his guidance, Tony eschews the genre's standard life-to-death formula for a much more meaningful, thoughtful portrait of the late chef/writer/television personality. Set in Provincetown, Massachusetts in the summer of 1973, Tony is part hangout movie, part earnest coming-of-age story centered around a young man struggling to find his way in the world whose punkish behavior unwittingly sends him down the path he was always supposed to take in life. Dominic Sessa does a sensational job of playing the shitbag 20-year-old version of Bourdain who is a charming, thoughtful guy when he's not too busy being an arrogant compulsive liar who's desperate to impress everyone he meets, Antoino Banderas does his best work since Pain & Glory as the compassionate veteran chef/restaurant owner who takes it upon himself to nurture Bourdain's love of food and Leo Woodall often runs away with the whole damn movie as the irredeemable 30-something dirtbag who the young Bourdain idolizes until he realizes just how self-destructive he is. It loses its way a bit whenever it's focusing on the romantic subplot involving Bourdain's crush/eventual first wife Nancy (Emilia Jones) as its narrative framing device that puts the viewer in the shoes of its young adult male protagonist limits her to being not much more than an object for him to lust over despite Jones' best efforts to add some depth to the character, but this is such a small piece of the puzzle in the grand scheme of the movie that the damage ends up being pretty minimal. Tony expands nationwide today and I'd urge anyone that loves Bourdain or just wants to see a good summertime movie to check it out ASAP.
Grade: B+
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma: After I Saw the TV Glow, Jane Schoenbrun became a filmmaker that I immediately bought a shitload of stock in. That movie was the product of someone who has a completely singular vision and the utmost confidence in how to bring it to life. Schoenbrun's third feature Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is another wholly unique project that also happens to represent a sharp turn from TV Glow's hypnotic, melancholic surrealist psychological drama. Where TV Glow examined the lives of two high school friends who took divergent paths when confronted with the choice of embracing their true identity, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is a story that traffics in the joy of discovering pleasure. As this is a Schoenbrun joint, that pleasure is sexual liberation and it's explored by using the tropes, imagery and fandom of slasher movies. Sound crazy? Well, it very much is and that craziness is a big part of its appeal. Schoenbrun is having a blast using the love/hate relationship they have with the slasher genre and the entire Hollywood horror franchise/legacy sequel machine that they've gained more intimate knowledge of as their upward career trajectory has allowed them to gain access to those rooms as key ingredients in another really personal story about a young filmmaker (Hannah Einbinder) hired to make a reboot of the Camp Miasma slasher franchise (it's basically Friday the 13th-meets-Sleepaway Camp movie that features an androgenous killer with a spear and giant cube-shaped box on their head named "Little Death" who rises from the lake that they were forcibly drowned in years prior to kill any horny idiot that aggress to be a counselor at the adjacent summer camp) who develops an unexpected romantic connection with the elusive star of the original film (Gillian Anderson)-who lives at the abandoned camp where the original film was shot-when she goes to meet with her about the possibility of reprising her role in the new movie. Einbinder and Anderson are terrific at portraying a relationship that evolves from awkward to beautiful over the course of a few days, the slasher aesthetics from the secluded sets to the grainy visuals to the ridiculous kills from the in-universe movie are spectacular homages to the genre's 80's heyday and Schoenbrun is so good at deploying humor that it's hard to believe they hadn't really dabbled with comedy in their previous films. It's so fucking cool that Schoenbrun made something so radically different from TV Glow without losing the specificity of their voice and I can't wait to see what direction they choose to go in for their next movie.
Grade: B+
The Rivals of Amziah King: Despite being warmly received at its world premiere at SXSW in March of 2025, The Rivals of Amziah King struggled to find a buyer and ended up on the initial slate of the company (Black Bear) that produced it when they launched their US distribution arm late last year. After seeing it, it's just as easy for me to understand why it was warmly received by audiences at SXSW as it is the lack of interest it received from prospective buyers. Andrew Patterson (The Vast of Night) made something that is character-driven, full of heart, deeply odd and relentlessly unwieldly in ways that are both endearing and aggravating. At its most basic level, it's a movie about a beekeeper/musician/pillar of his rural Oklahoma community named Amziah King (Matthew McConaughey) who begins to mentor his former foster daughter (Angelina LookingGlass) after having a surprise reunion with her at the diner she's working at. McConaughey is completely in his element as this eccentric, kind and wise man whose zest for life despite all of the hardships he's endured is contagious. Not since The Beach Bum has a film better utilized the easygoing charisma and open heart that makes McConaughey such a magnetic screen presence. When the narrative shifts from loose episodic drama to crime/heist territory in the second half, the film's shaggy appeal dampens a bit as these previously very likable characters kind of clumsily morph into morally ambiguous entities at the drop of a hat and LookingGlass is too stoic of a screen presence to shoulder the emotional weight that she's asked to carry. While I'm not confident there's any version of this movie that would be truly great given how messy and silly the storytelling is on a structural level, it definitely could've improved a bit if Patterson took some more care in mapping out the abrupt evolution of its main characters and picked a more capable actor to join McConaughey in the co-leading role.
Grade: B
The Wrong Girls: Bookending this piece with pure hangout movies is a fun little coincidence that is perfect for this stretch of the calendar. The Wrong Girls is a true throwback stoner comedy that revels in the power of friendship and being silly. Writer/director Dylan Meyer establishes a really laid-back atmosphere that perfectly mirrors the attitudes of its slacker protagonists (Kristen Stewart, Alia Shawkat) as a case of mistaken identity and misplaced curiosity about the contents of the briefcase they were handed as a result leads to these chill gals suddenly finding themselves in the crosshairs of some very powerful people. Stewart and Shawkat are absolutely delightful together as they bumble their way through being pursued by dangerous forces with a whole lot of effervescent idiocy and (platonic) love, the revolving door of famous faces (LaKeith Stanfield, Zack Fox, Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, Kate McKinnon, Tony Hale) who show up or lend their voices to portray the supporting characters all manage to get some laughs off in their limited time on screen and Todd Banhazi's warm kaleidoscopic cinematography is sneakily some of the best I've seen all year long. The worst thing I can say about The Wrong Girls is that it's more of a consistent smirk and chuckle movie than a truly laugh-out-loud one. Alas, it was still a good time at the movies and I'm glad that Meyer was able to get a stoner comedy to the big screen in 2026.
Grade: B
