Can you believe it’s already March? 2025 seems like it’s been around for four years or two days, depending on my mood. I feel like I start each of these monthly posts the exact same way, where I’m just in awe of the passage of time. But time is merely a social construct that exists to measure the number of movies I can watch in a day. Speaking of movie counts, we (me, using the Royal We) are up to 50 movies so far. I’m headed down to SXSW soon, so hopefully that number will skyrocket next month.

Suze

Most things about Suze shouldn’t work, but the ace up its sleeve is Michaela Watkins. While you may not recognize her name, she’s one of the best comedic actors working today. Unfortunately, she’s rarely given a project where she’s the lead. Suze is one of those projects that’s all Watkins. She plays a mom who’s struggling to handle her daughter’s college departure and strikes up an, at-first, unwilling friendship with her daughter’s boyfriend (Charlie Gillespie). The oddball duo is disarmingly sweet, yet achingly sad. A reminder that we may not know the impact we have on another person’s life, and that we should always lead with an open heart.

Hal & Harper

Speaking of leading with an open heart, that’s writer/director/actor Cooper Raiff’s MO. My love for Cooper (we’re on a first-name basis even though he may not know it) has been well documented. From Shithouse to Cha Cha Real Smooth, I feel a deep connection to Cooper, so it was a no-brainer to catch his first foray into television, Hal & Harper, during Sundance. However, I did not read the invitation email correctly. I thought I was signing up for two hours of the show, about four episodes. In reality, it was the entire season, about eight hours. I marathoned it. The power went out in the final twenty minutes of the final episode, so I finished it on my phone and I still absolutely bawled.

Better Man

I’ll start this by saying that my awareness of Robbie Williams only comes from the episode of Derry Girls where the girls (and James) sneak out to go to Take That’s first concert in Ireland. I couldn’t even confidently tell you the name of a Take That song, so I was a little hesitant going into Better Man. Honestly, the fact that Robbie is portrayed as a CGI monkey in the movie was the least of my concerns.

I’d like to take a moment to talk about the perception people have about critics. A lot of times, when I say I didn’t like a movie, people will roll their eyes and say I just enjoy disliking things because I’m a critic. It’s easy to forget, based on the way a lot of critics write, that we all got into this because we love movies. I want nothing more than to fall in love with a movie. I don’t get any joy in leaving a movie theater underwhelmed. It’s a thrill to be proven wrong by a movie, and that’s what happened with Better Man. This is exactly what a biopic should be. Audacious, unafraid, and ugly. Humans, whether we’ve achieved enough fame in our lives to warrant a biopic or not, are a mixture of good and bad decisions. Far too often, movies in this genre want to show only the good. Better Man speaks to the idea of acknowledging the hurt someone has caused and the effort that’s actively going into changing for the better. And yeah, that someone might be a CGI monkey.

Heart Eyes

Paramount Pictures, Screen Gems, Republic Pictures

If you didn’t know, my dad and I host a podcast called Movies with My Dad. We (mostly) take turns picking a movie to see and then record a podcast on the car ride home. I enjoy making my dad see horror movies because they’re so far removed from anything he chooses on his own. Most of the time, he spends these movies in utter agony. Our episode on The Substance is a good example of this. I was genuinely shocked when we agreed that Heart Eyes is a delightful yet bloody romantic comedy. It strikes an impressive balance between blood, guts, gore, and swoonworthy declarations made in one last effort at a chance at love.

Apple Cider Vinegar

One of the podcasts I actually keep up with is Scam Goddess. It’s hosted by comedian and actor Laci Mosley, and it’s essentially an alternative to all the true crime nonsense that’s out there. The show keeps things light and sticks to stories about cons and scams rather than brutal murders. She did an episode about a wellness guru who lied about brain cancer in the early days of Instagram. Unbeknownst to me, it’s that same story that’s the subject of the Apple Cider Vinegar miniseries. At only six episodes, the show doesn’t unnecessarily elongate the story the way many other miniseries do. It’s all led by Kaitlyn Dever, who pulls off a flawless Australian accent as the woman behind the wellness scam. Aisha Dee and Alycia Debnam-Carey offer fantastic supporting performances.

Follow me on BlueSky, Instagram, Letterboxd, & YouTube. Check out Movies with My Dad, a new podcast recorded on the car ride home from the movies.

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