The 37th Annual Notre Dame Student Film Festival, January 23-25th, 2026

I've been covering the Notre Dame Student Film Festival on and off since 2014. Below are the highlights along with favorable ratings.

A Regular Cat-astrophe * * * Stars

-It's about losing smartphones and befriending cats, with numerous title cards and copious info concerning the plight of a nebulous, female college student. Part documentary, part dramatization, all good.

Stalker * * * Stars

-A rack focus here, a Dutch angle there, a closeup. Yeah Stalker is well, about a stalker. It's uh, dark and dangerous, the type of short a young Sam Raimi would have pursued circa 1981. Oh and with most creepy fleeting flicks, the music is pretty much everything. "Besetting compulsive". 

Flicker * * * Stars

-As a silent pic about a drug addict who tries to put his life back together via seeing flashbacks of his childhood, Flicker packs an emotional wallop and features some supreme, physical acting by its lead. Oh and an alternate title could be "Flicker of Hope" as demonstrated by the shining, visual hues near the end.  

Therefore, I Am * * * Stars

-An assault on the senses, some European shooting techniques, the mind of an ND student becoming as skewed as what's on screen, a little inborn narration. Yes I'm talking about Therefore I Am, a five-minute-plus vehicle that requires multiple viewings in order to expound. "I am, nuff said."

Dukeneuse * * * 1/2 Stars

-Dukeneuse is about parodying, spoofing, and making black comedy fun of infomercials in the most cynical and airy way. I mean I've never seen anything like it at a Notre Dame flick fest and even the head of the theatre department didn't want anyone asking him how to explain what they just saw. "Duke nukem." 

Written by Jesse Burleson

The Rip 2026 * * * Stars

LET THIS PRISE

It does feature Ben Affleck and Matt Damon sans any reunion of a Good Will Hunting 2, it did come out via Netflix in January and well, it's from the dark, underhanded style of director Joe Carnahan. Yeah I'm talking about The Rip, a crime thriller where the perp isn't always just a perp and the constabulary isn't always well, you know. "This is my crime scene, let me run it." You got it boss. Uh, you got it Mr Clean.

Starring Affleck, Damon, Kyle Chandler, and Scott Adkins and featuring its leads playing with enough gumption to spew any number of four-letter words, The Rip feels like a group hug version of Training Day coupled with numerous mock-ups of every David Ayer screenplay you can think of and an Assault on Precinct 13 tail end. The film also gives helmer Carnahan a chance to make another bad cop flick that's more arcane and dire than it needn't be. I mean just check the dead of night cinematography from Juan Miguel Azpiroz, a sort of doom and gloom-hued palate with the occasional glowing lights of some minacious, Miami Cruisers. Yikes!

So yeah, as something about a bunch of rozzers who find millions in cash during a routine robbing of a drug house, The Rip is like a ticking time bomb of a movie, slick and glossy and smoky and stout, a dark blue remnant in reverse if you will. Visceral shootouts that have to be seen to be believed, trickery, fuzz hoodwinking, slugs aplenty, a numbing musical score by 25-year veteran Clinton Shorter. Yeah The Rip winds up the tension till Carnahan's signature, flashback conclusion comes along which is abrupt and gotcha in the most headlong way. Joe, well his vehicles are the enigma of duplicity. I can't wait to see what he does next. "Rip" city.  

Written by Jesse Burleson

Greenland 2: Migration 2026 * * * Stars

DEFECTION

It doesn't feature Tom Cruise, it came out in good old January, and well, it's not too shabby either. Yeah I'm talking about Greenland 2: Migration, a sequel that seems more like a part deux, a literal continuation if you will. Either that or we're thinking about "Migration" as its own entity, like a slight remake of War of the Worlds (2005 model of course). 

Starring Gerard Butler, a talented actor who has had a few mishaps in the industry thanks to his agent (who will remain nameless), Greenland 2: Migration provides Butler with a dramatically-centered role, more reactionary than radical. His John Garrity is a dying man, forced to journey across Europe to find a crater-like home for his family after Earth has been decimated with comets galore. "Listen to me son, it doesn't matter what happens because we're always gonna be together." You tell 'em Gerard. Preach brother. 

Helmed by Ric Roman Waugh, he of Angel Has Fallen fame and the first Greenland from 2020, "Migration" is decently crafted, lushly directed, and full of dangerous agog coming right around the corner. I mean it's the ultimate post-apocalyptic vehicle, a how-to guide on the low. Every frame is a wide meant for the big screen, every special effect loud and above the direct-to-video palate, every shot so panoramic it looks like a live-action Pink Floyd album cover (pick any one of them). 

Now does Greenland 2: Migration have that movie cliche where most of the main protagonists dodge death while everyone else seems to perish like paper mache? Sure but whatever, it's still an intense ride for Butler fanatics who love to see Scotland's favorite son trucking for his life. And does "Migration" forget that it's a disaster flick and veer into humdrum military territory? Sure but what disastrous ruination doesn't go martial from time to time (see first paragraph). "Green" machine.

Written by Jesse Burleson

My Top Ten Movie Picks of 2025

1. Marty Supreme

2. Blind River

3. Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror

4. Roofman 

5. Terror Comes Knocking: The Marcela Borges Story

6. Song Sung Blue 

7. Night Always Comes

8. My Mom Jayne

9. Brick 

10. The Housemaid 

Honorable Mention: Drop, Jay Kelly, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Caught Stealing, A Deadly American Marriage

And the Top 5 Worst...

1. Rosebud Baker: The Mother Lode

2. Oh. What. Fun.

3. Kinda Pregnant

4. Chelsea Handler: The Feeling

5. Who Killed the Montreal Expos?

List compiled by Jesse Burleson

Song Sung Blue 2025 * * * Stars

"I AM".... I CRIED

I've always thought Kate Hudson peaked in the year 2000 when she got nominated for an Oscar via Almost Famous. I guess I was wrong. She shines even brighter 25 years later in Song Sung Blue. As musician and single mother Claire Sardina, Hudson channels raw and battered, singing and playing her darn arse off. "I wanna dance, I want a garden, I want a cat." You rock on sister! Rock on!

Now is Song Sung Blue the best flick of 2025? No but it definitely belongs in my top ten. It's a musical drama, starting out like an extended, small scale concert until it turns dark and calamitous about halfway through. And is "Blue" based on a true story that takes place in the underrated rock and roll city of Milwaukee? Certainly. But hey, it's more a true "love" story than anything else. Believe that. 

Directed by Hustle & Flow's Craig Brewer and clocking in at 132 earned minutes, Song Sung Blue chronicles a Neil Diamond cover band called Lightning & Thunder (consisting of Hudson as Claire Sardina and Hugh Jackman as Mike Sardina). These songbirds, well they quickly marry and experience a rise and fall and rise again, populated by hardships, barbarity, and initial, rising success. Heck, you can just call "Blue" The Iron Claw of movies about pop impressionists. Mike is Kevin Von Erich and Claire is well, Pam Adkisson. 

Pics about professional wrestlers and budding rappers aside, Song Sung Blue is hard-hitting and rather feel-good at the same time. The screenplay by Brewer can ultimately feel a little pretentious and cheap but the performances a la the whole cast literally cut through everything. I mean if you're a Neil fan you might at times think to yourself, "well I could've just bought an album with the greatest hits instead." But if you want to experience a second half dramatization that conveys a little domestic bliss danger coming right around the corner, then Song Sung Blue is far from being "unsung". Natch. 

Written by Jesse Burleson

Marty Supreme 2025 * * * 1/2 Stars

SUPREME BEING

Marty Mauser (played by the effortlessly magnetic Timothee Chalamet) is an NYC table-tennis player trying to make it to the big time by winning the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. The problem is he's also a hustler, a thief, and a would-be deadbeat dad and that sort of hinders his Waterloo journey. That's the brief rub of the overtaxing and rather hyperkinetic Marty Supreme. "Marty, I'm gonna make you an offer." Oh boy.

Yup, I've just announced "Supreme" as my top pick for best film of 2025. After viewing it on Xmas day, I assure you its distinctiveness is unparalleled. Remember Steve Carell's Bobby Riggs from Battle of the Sexes or Matt Damon's Mike McDermott from 1998's Rounders? Well Chalamet's Mauser makes those dudes look like choir boys by comparison. 

Directed by Manhattan native Josh Safdie, filmed with close-ups and a certain level of graininess and showing an opening clip of a sperm going into an egg (as only the Josh man would want it), Marty Supreme is the cinematic equivalent of a het up dingo getting high on his or her own supply. 

So yeah, Safdie fashions "Supreme" as a flawed character study where the so-called hero (Marty Mauser) has to become self-seeking and even criminalistic to achieve his faraway dream. The dialogue is fast-paced and spitfire, the camera whizzes you vehemently from one set piece to the next, and Timothee Chalamet creates a gnat-like persona that seems straight from the dictionary of devil-may-care. "That's just how I grew up." You don't say Timmy boy. You don't say. 

All in all, Marty Supreme revels in a techno, 80s soundtrack (even though it's set in 1952), a style from Josh Safdie that channels early Scorsese and Oliver Stone, and a running time of 150 minutes that feels nippy in all its surplus glory. "Ping" Pong identity. 

Written by Jesse Burleson

Oh. What. Fun. 2025 * 1/2 Stars

FUN FOR WHO?

Oh. What. Fun. is bad, like fresh doggy poo bad. It's like someone decided to remake Home Alone and The Family Stone and do worse by both. I mean do we really have to dredge up the whole bickering-family-getting-together-for-Xmas shtick again? Seriously? I'd rather have a root canal from good old Dr. Woo on the low.

Anyway Oh. What. Fun. gets its title from a holiday song we all know well. Too bad there's little holiday cheer when actors Denis Leary, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Felicity Jones seem to be slumming it for a paycheck as their characters come off like total schlubs. Add to the fact that the freaking flick takes place in Texas when with the snow coming down looks like Central Ohio.

Oh. What. Fun., well it appears as something the troupers had fun making but we as an audience didn't have fun watching. Personas don't act anything like normal human beings would act. Comedic or dramatic scenes flop and die in the wind like goldfish with expiration dates. Cameos involving Eva Longoria as a talk show host and Joan Chen as a nosy neighbor don't quite develop. Basically Oh. What. Fun. is a cinematic turkey with dressing (duh, it's Christmas), a stinker that could never be saved even with feel-good ditties by Michael McDonald and Donna Summer on the almighty soundtrack. "Let's just all take a deep breath and go to a happy place." I wish I could boss. I wish I could.

Distributed by Prime Video and directed by a dude who actually got critical acclaim back in the day (The Big Sick's Michael Showalter), Oh. What. Fun. is about housewife Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer mentioned earlier) getting left behind by her family to go to a Christmas dance show. What does Claire do? Well she gets in her car and drives to Cali, ticked off at her brood for sadly neglecting her. Claire eventually goes on TV to compete in a festive Mom contest. Yeah there's a lot of capers going on here and a lot of painful eye-rolling too. "Oh snapped." 

Written by Jesse Burleson

The Housemaid 2025 * * * Stars

MAID TO BE ORDERED

The Housemaid is about um, housemaids and garrets and sudden tics and well, non-straight-faced discipline. It's a conceptual thriller mind you, layered and upsetting and possibly 20 minutes too long, with a lily white look and lots of sanguinary imagery. "Housemaid", well it has to do with a live-in menial who gets hired by a rich couple that has well, some evil baggage amidst their big-arse abode, their snobby friends, and their swank rides. "So why do you want this job?" Uh, my thoughts exactly.  

"Housemaid", yeah it's directed by Mount Clemens, Michigan native Paul Feig, a guy who never met a film genre or a cinematic grain he couldn't transition to and fro. Here he turns the psychological screws, giving The Housemaid enough twists and turns and flexed paradox to power freaking Shanghai on the low. I mean you think you know where the flick is headed until you don't, as the Feig man adds about five extra codas, a fem-happy soundtrack, and plenty of curdling ichor. "I need this job." You said it star Sydney Sweeney, not me.

Perfect casting in the form of Amanda Seyfried, Sweeny, and Brandon Sklenar. A piece of dialogue that might rank up there with On the Waterfront's "I coulda been a contender! ("I need an f-ing sandwich")." Sterile-looking New Jersey locales where the five story dwelling is the star. Paul Feig stirring the Flowers in the Attic lump while harboring on the possible, Lifetime Television tip. Yup, that's what makes The Housemaid fairly recommendable. I mean you'll never hear Linda Ronstadt's "Blue Bayou" the same way again after watching "Housemaid", you'll definitely avoid going into any upstairs loft that has a lock and key, and you'll always cherish the fact you haven't knocked out your front teeth yet (hint hint). "House" warning. 

Written by Jesse Burleson

Jay Kelly 2025 * * * Stars

AND...CUT!

A film where George Clooney might be mirroring or even taunting his own real-life career as a Clark Gable-esque movie icon. Yeah I'm talking about 2025's Jay Kelly, one of those hard-line character studies that is about um, one Jay Kelly. I mean is Clooney's Jaybird going through a late, mid-life crisis? And does he like to travel by train so he can hobnob with the local denizens? And why do his daughters have the need to give him the tough love freeze out. "Look at you, you're the American dream." Oh fo sho George. Fo sho. 

So OK, with Jay Kelly you have helmer Noah Baumbach channeling lush direction a la splashy European locales, Altmanesque overlapping dialogue, and a few nifty tracking shots along the way. You want a PG-13 version of 2022's Babylon minus the usual debauchery and prolonged shenanigans? Well Jay Kelly might be right up your alley. You want a talky flick with a James L. Brooks-style script and a side persona played by Netflix's own best bud Adam Sandler just for kicks and giggles? Well Prego...it's in there with Jay Kelly.  

Rounding out at 132 minutes and complete with a lengthy, movie-within-a-movie sequence (remember '92's track-athon, The Player?), Jay Kelly is about famous trouper Jay Kelly (the Cloon-meister) and his manager Ron (Adam Sandler) halting production on their latest pic to head to Tuscany for some serious self-realization. 

Jay Kelly, well it probably needed an editor to tighten up clips of tapering-off jawing and excessive, absorbed preoccupying by various cast members (which include cameos by Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Stacy Keach, and Patrick Wilson). However, the vehicle has a dense, dramatic center and can sometimes leave you with a little lump in your throat. Also it caters heavily to Cloondog's naturalistic style of acting. Old world "Jay". 

Written by Jesse Burleson

Being Eddie 2025 * * Stars

ED TV

2025's Being Eddie is like a vitalizing conch to pump Eddie Murphy up. I mean it's akin to all Ed's buds and cronies being life coaches to a dude that was once the box office, cream of the crop via the 1980s. In "Being", Murphy gives interviews from his lux mansion as he chills, spouting cuss words and projecting his always-in-character shtick. "I've done so many different types of things." Well Murph, add a 103-minute documentary to that almighty list. 

So yeah, let's get back to this thing as a whole shall we. Being Eddie is similar to a tribute video except Eddie is actually there to happily defend himself as opposed to the latter (I'm talking to you Richard Linklater). A film career archive here, an account from Murphy's acting colleagues there, Ed doing ventriloquist stuff a la Richard Pryor and the "Cos" from his kick-arse abode. Yeah "Being" is laid-back as all get out, sort of related to a Jerry Maguire paean except we're praising SNL's favorite son and not good old "TC". 

Now do I plan on recommending Being Eddie with its diverting way of showing us the walk of life of a screen legend that we already knew existed? I mean it's decent stuff but nah, not quite, nada. There's a hint of vanity going on here, a smidgen of intentional swagger (even though the Murph man was not a producer or any help behind the scenes). Um, I was a huge fan of Eddie Murphy back in the "Decade of Greed". I've seen Beverly Hills Cop and Beverly Hills Cop II so many times it would make your head spin. I don't really need something pasted together over a bromantic weekend with Ed's crew to tell me what I already could register. Mixed state of "being". 

Written by Jesse Burleson