“Sinners” sweeps Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards

Posted on December 8, 2025 by Denise

I love my people. Yeah, we may not always agree on things, but this year? We all came together to give Ryan Coogler’s Sinners the flowers it deserves.

From our Grand Pooh-bah, Tim Gordon:

Among this year’s most notable achievements:
Sinners (Warner Bros.) makes WAFCA history with 10 wins, the most ever for a single film.
Ryan Coogler achieves the rare sweep of Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, the first since Slumdog Millionaire in 2009.
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) earns three awards, including Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Check out the full list of winners after the jump, and CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners. It was a tough year, with many worthy contenders. Every winner should be proud of their accomplishments.

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Ho or No? – “Oh. What. Fun.”

Posted on December 7, 2025 by Denise

“The one thing I really wanted for Christmas. And I couldn’t even get it for myself.” 

Genre: Family Christmas Films That Bring No Cheer
New Holiday Spirit or Ghost of Christmas Past?: OG story. Released 2025.
Bonus Content?: MICHELLE FREAKING PFEIFFER
Where I Watched: Amazon Prime

Synopsis: Claire is a mom to grown kids who are coming home for the Christmas holidays. But it seems everybody has a different agenda, and while presents take a back seat to drama, can Claire get everyone – including herself – back on track?

Worth the Eggnog?: This is a with a soundtrack that’s better than the film deserves. Rather than a story that pulls you into the holiday spirit, it’s a jumble of subplots and moments that never come together. Fun should only be watched under the influence of too much heavily spiked eggnog.

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“Hamnet” – exquisite heartbreak

Posted on December 6, 2025 by Denise


“Look at me. Look at me.”

Story: Shakespeare’s plays. Everybody knows ’em or at least knows of them. But what about how they came about? Herewith, a look at how his play Hamlet may have come to be.

Genre I’d put it in: Bewitching Historical Dramas
Release Date: 2025
Remake, Sequel, Based-On, or Original: Based on the life of William Shakespeare and his wife Ann/Agnes, and the award winning novel of the same name by Maggie O’Farrell. Oh yeah, and that Hamlet play you read in school.

Gotta say: There’s a lot of things I can say, and will say, about this film. But off the cuff? Damn, that’s intense. In all the very best ways. This is a movie to sink into. A story that will fill you with joy, break your heart, and then mend it. 

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Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza – “The Housemaid”

Posted on December 5, 2025 by Denise

Ready to get creeped out in your own home? Synopsis!

THE HOUSEMAID is a wildly entertaining thriller starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, based on the best-selling book. From director Paul Feig, the film plunges audiences into a twisted world where perfection is an illusion, and nothing is as it seems. Trying to escape her past, Millie (Sweeney) accepts a job as a live-in housemaid for the wealthy Nina (Seyfried) and Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar). But what begins as a dream job quickly unravels into something far more dangerous — a sexy, seductive game of secrets, scandal, and power. Behind the Winchesters’ closed doors lies a world of shocking twists that will leave you guessing until the very end.

Ready? Let’s go!

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In Queue Review – “Hell House LLC: Lineage”

Posted on November 25, 2025 by Denise


” I thought they took these assholes out.”

Genre: Sleep Inducing Sequels
Release Date: 2025
Where I Watched: Shudder

Gist: Something about someone who’s trying to figure out something and The Abbadon Hotel after one of the many bloody oopsie doodles that happened there. Or something. It’s tough to tell with this cobbled together “story”.

Gotta say: Lineage is disappointing, dull, and had me thinking that the Ludovico Technique could be a good idea sometimes. Well, at least when it comes to staying awake during bad movies. Because DAMN this movie is a clunker.

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In Queue Review – “The Wrong Paris”

Posted on November 23, 2025 by Denise

“Hey – can I hitch a ride into town? I really need to stop by the Piggly Wiggly.” [PIGGLY WIGGLY MENTIONED]

Genre: Enemies To Lovers Boilerplate That Has Fun With It
Release Date: 2025
Where I Watched: Netflix

Gist: Dawn is so sick of small town Texas life, y’all. So when she gets accepted to her dream art school in Paris? She’s stoked. One small problem; she used her savings to help pay her grandmother’s medical bills after an accident. Is she out of luck? Nope! There’s a dating show that’s gonna be set in Paris for their next season. Just in time to get Dawn to school. (And the sign up payment will cover tuition, sweet.) Will she end up falling in love with the Bachelor Trent, throwing a wrench in her plans? Honey, what do you think?

Gotta say: If you’re actually reading a review for this film? You’re intrigued by the premise. So all I’ve gotta say is, go do that. Because Paris is stupid cute.

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“Wicked: For Good” – quite literally spectacular

Posted on November 19, 2025 by Denise

“They’re never going to stop believing in me. Y’know why? They don’t want to.” [Damn, Chu. That’s super on point for the year of Our Lord 2025.]

Story: When we last saw our two witches, Galinda/Glinda had stepped up as Oz’s shining darling, with Elphaba being painted as the “Wicked Witch of the West”. As Elphaba fights for freedom for all members of Oz – animal and human/human adjacent – Glinda starts to see the cracks in the Wizard’s carefully constructed façade. Looks like there’s a storm brewing…

Genre I’d put it in: Adaptations Of Popular Broadway Musicals
Release Date: 2025
Remake, Sequel, Based-On, or Original: Sequel to/conclusion of 2024’s Wicked. Based on the stage musical of the same name, and very loosely based on the novel by Gregory Maguire.

Gotta say: I have no shame about my total love for the first film. I’m a theater kid born and raised, so this was exactly the kind of gloriously extravagant creation my heart was hoping for. And honey? 2 just blew it out of the water. Or, to keep with the Oz thing, the sky. If Nope warned viewers not to be taken in by spectacle? 2 is here to let us know that sometimes, spectacle is just what the doctor ordered. Don’t we all need a little Christmas spectacle right this very minute? We do. 2 delivers that in abundance.

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“The Devil Wears Prada 2″and gives us a teaser for Anne Hathaway’s birthday*!

Posted on November 12, 2025 by Denise
*And mine too, but I don’t have her fashion sense, or closet.

OMG! If, like me, you loved sinking into the glorious world of Streep and Hathaway in the original Prada? This is a lovely early holiday present. I’d say more, but with this teaser clocking in at just under a minute? I’d be guilding the lily. And Miranda would find that tacky.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 hits theaters next May.

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Columbia Screening Pass-palooza – “Zootopia 2”!

Posted on November 11, 2025 by Denise

Ready to catch up with our favorite bunny and fox duo? Synopsis!

In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia 2,” rookie cops Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) find themselves on the twisting trail of a great mystery when Gary De’Snake (voice of Ke Huy Quan) arrives in Zootopia and turns the animal metropolis upside down. To crack the case, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before.

Ready? Let’s go!

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In Queue Review – “Frankenstein” (2025)

Posted on November 7, 2025 by Denise

“Only monsters play God, Baron.”

Genre: Exquisitely Recreated Classic Horrors
Release Date: 2025
Where I Watched: Netflix

Gist: After young Victor Frankenstein’s mother dies in childbirth, he swears he will conquer death. Decades later, he’s kicked out of medical school because his experimentation is creepy as hell. But not necessarily impossible. Pity that when he achieves his goal, his narcissistic tendencies get the better of him. Meanwhile, his creature languishes…

Gotta say: Beware. Here there be simping. Damn I’m a simp for this movie, so prepare yourself. Guillermo del Toro has a way with misunderstood monsters, and this Frankenstein is his coup de grâce. Is it heavy handed? Yeah. So much so. Did I care? Nope. Not one little bit. This is going into my Comfort Watch List, and I’m not mad.

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