Miracle: The Boys of '80 * * * 1/2 Stars

POWERED PLAY

The U.S. Olympic team goes into Lake Placid circa 1980 and wins the gold medal, beating the heavily favored Soviet Union and those sneaky blokes from Finland. Basically it's considered the greatest sports moment of the 20th century. "I realize now why it became so much bigger than just a hockey game." Oh fo sho. Fo sho. 

So OK, I think 2026's Miracle: The Boys of  '80 is the best flick of the year (so far). After viewing it recently, I also consider it to be stronger in value than the non-docu, 2004 made-for-the-big-screen version starring good old Snake Plissken (that would Kurt Russell). I mean I'm not saying '04's Miracle is bad, it just seems to omit certain particulars that only the actual players (now in their 70s) can attest to. "We weren't superstars, we were the boy next door, lunch pail, hard hat group of guys." You tell 'em left winger Mike Eruzione. You tell 'em bro. 

Directed by two dudes (Max Gershberg, Jacob Rogal), distributed by Netflix (who else), and clocking in at a running time of 108 minutes, Miracle: The Boys of '80 is well, a quaint, time machine of a documentary, going back 45 years as it guns it stealthy to 88 (hint hint). Essex County, New York literally looks the same, Placid's Main Street is still kicking it in all its twee glory. 

"Boys of '80", yeah it tells its story chronologically and cleanly, how US hockey was H-E-double-hockey-sticks until the late Herb Brooks came along and gathered a bunch of amateurs ready to shock the world. Guys like Jim Craig (goalie), Mark Johnson (center), and Ken Morrow (defense) return to the scene of the crime, looking grizzled yet happy as they enter the Olympic Fieldhouse decades later to reflect. Miracle: The Boys of '80, well it intertwines between present-day interviews and strong print, grainy archives, giving the viewer a hint of teary-eyed wistfulness. "Miracle work it." 

Written by Jesse Burleson

The Wrecking Crew 2026 * * * Stars

JUICE CREW

My gosh that was hardcore, an exhausting bodies in motion flick where fists fly, bullets pierce, and bones cleave. Yeah I'm talking about 2026's The Wrecking Crew, an action comedy that's rock 'em sock 'em, where it's action clip then payoff then action clip then payoff, where a sword or tongue is firmly planted in cheek. Mm-hmm, you get the drift. "Crew" stars Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa, two dudes who have well, decent propensity together and at the same time, a disdain for one another. "Well, it should be fun". Uh, you darn tootin'. 

Anyhow The Wrecking Crew has two half-brothers (Bautista as James Hale and Momoa as Jonny Hale) trying to mysteriously find out who offed their father who initially was ruled dead by a hit-and-run. So yeah, basically "Crew" is like a buddy cop movie a la 48 Hrs. and Lethal Weapon, not quite as dark and brooding but just as much fun. Here are the only differences: Momoa's Jonny is a cop that's nonchalant to the nth degree and suspended with pay. Bautista's James is not the fuzz but an ex Navy SEAL with a tempted mean streak. Oh and they're also pseudo related. Did you get all that?

The Wrecking Crew, yup it's Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa going rogue as they leave nothing but human carnage in their wake. As actors they look a little weathered but shine being a couple of antihero gangbusters who have nothing to lose except maybe their heads and/or a limb or two. "Crew's" director (Puerto Rico native Angel Manuel Soto) films nasty fistfights and shootouts three-dimensional, blurring the lines between good taste and good old ferity. His "Crew" has a pretty composite plot for an action vehicle but who cares when there's so much glorious pulp splattered on screen. "Wrecking" ball out. 

Written by Jesse Burleson

Mercy 2026 * * * Stars

PREVENIENT GRACE

Wow, now that was intense, a real increased blood circulation of a movie. Yeah I'm talking about Mercy, the type of cutthroat, sci-fi thriller that takes a scene or two from 2002's Minority Report and stretches it out to a little over 100 minutes. Mercy, well it's mostly a screenlife affair, initially a drag but eventually becoming a consuming ride. "I loved my wife, I didn't hurt her." Prove it bro. Prove it Pratt man.

Anyway Mercy has Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) on trial for murdering his wife. Here's the glitch: he has to sit in an execution-style chair, be presided over by an AI judge, and sift through a bunch of found footage to prove his innocence. If he can't do so in an hour and a half, he'll be offed for sure. Yikes! 

Pratt, well he plays the character of Raven with a raw potency, a glint of hope, and an antihero jetlag. Heck, he looks like he hasn't slept in days. You root for him because well, you have to, not because you want to. Otherwise there'd be no film, no supposed leading light to keep alive. 

Mercy, yup it's the ultimate "big brother" flick, the ultimate social media boon, and the ultimate, brash whodunit. Everybody is watching everybody, every movement dissected like an Energizer Bunny telescope, every surveillance video a cumulus "cloud" (natch). 

Co-starring Rebecca Ferguson and Chris Sullivan and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, Mercy revels in the fact that it's akin to a modern day Zapruder film with director Timur Bekmambetov getting his tech on as he chills on the grassy knoll. The pic does what most pics do well. It gets your heart rate up, it's twisty, it renders you restive, and it keeps you on the edge of your proverbial seat. Errand of "mercy". 

Written by Jesse Burleson

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