One Battle After Another (2025, R)

*Premise spoilers*

I had my back up a little going into this film, because I know One Battle After Another has been positioned as Sinners’s main competition in some of the big categories, and I’d heard it described as more of a “Black story for white audiences” film, compared to Sinners. On the whole, I’d say my feelings about the film are mixed-to-positive—there’s some good stuff here, as well as some frustrating stuff.

Back in the day, Pat was a revolutionary with his lover Perfidia. But then everything went sideways, and Pat had to flee with baby Charlene. Now named Bob and Willa, they’ve been hiding out for 16 years. When a powerful old enemy named Col. Lockjaw comes looking for them, Bob’s old comrades mobilize to help. It’s been a long time since Bob’s revolutionary days and he’s hopelessly out of his depth, but he’s bound and determined to protect Willa any way he can.

This movie is nominated for thirteen Oscars. Among others, they include Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and four acting nods.

One thing I appreciate is that this is not a Taken-style movie where Bob unleashes his deep well of lethal skills to rescue his daughter from the bad guys. Bob can’t do that. He’s spent the last 16 years in a drugs-and-alcohol-fueled stupor—he’s not remotely on his A-game here. He’s scrambling around in a bathrobe doing his best and looking for anybody who can help him.

That’s where the supporting players come in. The surviving members of the French 75, Bob’s old group of revolutionaries, are on top of shit. They’re the ones who tell Bob that Lockjaw is coming after him, and at that point, they’ve already extracted Willa and are taking her to a safe location. The trouble is, Bob doesn’t remember all the old codes and secrets, so he isn’t sure where she is. He needs help to contact them again and get the information he needs. This leads him to Willa’s karate teacher Sergio, who isn’t part of an established operation like the French 75 but who’s fighting the power on a more grounded level, protecting his immigrant community.

Then there’s Willa herself. Naturally, you can’t introduce a vile antagonist who’s hellbent on finding her and then keep her away from him the whole movie, and so eventually we see Willa in danger and separated from her allies/protectors. In her view, she’s been raised by a paranoid dad who flips out about her wanting to have a phone or invite friends to the house, insistent on staying off the grid. And she comes by that perspective honestly. In her life, she’s never seen any of the kinds of threats Bob has warned her about, and meanwhile, she’s had to bust his ass about driving drunk. But then she finds out it’s all real, and when she’s in the lion’s den on her own, Willa does whatever she can to stay alive. Good for her!

So I like that Bob is a mess who’s trying badly, that his friends—old and new—are the ones holding it down for the most part, and that Willa needs help without being entirely helpless. I’m less impressed with how Perfidia is portrayed/used within the story. She feels thinly written, much more like a device than a character. While Lockjaw is an effective enough villain, he’s honestly kind of repellent to watch onscreen. And really, there’s no reason this movie had to be over two-and-a-half hours long. I’ve seen Oscar movies this year that earned their length, but I don’t think this is one of them.

Like I said, there are four nominated actors here. Leonardo DiCaprio turns in a strong leading performance as Bob—he’s one of those actors that I think got the chance to be a lot more interesting after aging out of his heartthrob era. While this isn’t totally out of the ballpark of some of his other wild/unhinged roles, like his characters from The Wolf of Wall Street and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood…, he gets the job done. He’s funny, affecting, and intense as the story calls for, and he’s not afraid to look bad or ridiculous. For supporting actors, we have Sean Penn as Lockjaw and Benicio del Toro as Sergio. For my money, I favor del Toro here, and not just because Lockjaw is so terrible. Penn’s performance here is broad and actorly in a way that kind of “shows the strings” on the marionette, while del Toro’s feels much more organic and lived-in. And Teyana Taylor is recognized as a supporting actress in her brief role as Perfidia. To the extent that the character works for me, it’s because of what she does with it, not the writing. Beyond the award nominations, I want to shout out Chase Infiniti, who does a really nice job as Willa, and the always-great Regina Hall, who’s excellent as Deandra (one of Bob’s old revolutionary friends.)

Warnings

Violence, sexual content, language (including racial slurs,) drinking/smoking/drug use, disturbing images, and strong thematic elements.

Joel Fry-days: Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 2 – “The House of Black and White” (2015)

*Spoilers from season 4*

It didn’t stand out as much to me in the last episode, but this one really jogs my memory for how many of the season 5 plots didn’t fully pan out for me. Back when these episodes first aired, I remember being excited about a number of the storylines—for a lot of them, though, the execution wound up being more of a letdown. Let’s get into it.

Arya has arrived in Braavos, where she seeks out her old friend/assassin, Jaqen H’ghar. Brienne and Podrick have an unexpected encounter on the road. When one of the Sons of the Harpy is caught, Daenerys takes counsel on what to do with him. After the brutal death of Oberyn Martell last season, Cersei worries about her daughter’s continued safety in Dorne, and with good reason—Ellaria is out for blood. The Night’s Watch elect a new Lord Commander.

• When Arya arrives at the temple of the Faceless Men, she begs to be let in, saying, “Please! I crossed the Narrow Sea. I have nowhere else to go” – I love the Faceless Man’s simple response, “You have everywhere else to go.”
• As usual on Game of Thrones, we see that the stalwart characters are no match for the cunning characters. Brienne has the truth on her side, but it’s child’s play for Littlefinger to twist it around and make her look bad.
• It’s funny—for years, Anton Lesser was “Qyburn from Game of Thrones” to me. But when he popped up in this episode, my brain immediately went “Partagaz!” The power of Andor!
• I believe this is our first look at Doran Martell, played by the always-welcome Alexander Siddig. As Ellaria itches to avenge Oberyn, Doran demonstrates one similarity he and his late brother shared when he flatly tells her, “We do not mutilate little girls for vengeance. Not here. Not while I rule.”
• Tyrion and Varys are in the traveling portion of their storyline, so not much happening here – I do like Varys drawling, “Are we really going to spend the entire road to Volantis talking about the futility of everything?”, to which Tyrion replies, “You’re right, no point.” Ha!
• My favorite stuff at the Wall in this episode, once again, are the scenes with Shireen. This time, her reading lessons are with Gilly instead of Ser Davos, and I really like the conversation they have about greyscale.

It’s not the best episode for Daenerys. With the prisoner, her advisors variously urge execution and mercy, haste and caution, and things somehow wind up with the least desirable outcome. And I’m sure part of it is because I’m biased toward Grey Worm and against Daario, but it annoys me when Daario repeatedly lectures Grey Worm while searching for the Sons of the Harpy, belaboring how this is a job so much more suited to Second Sons rather than Unsullied. With Daario, it sometimes feels like the show is trying too hard to make fetch happen, and I definitely don’t like them doing it at Grey Worm’s expense.

This is the first episode where Joel Fry appears in two sequences instead of just one. Although that doesn’t actually amount to more screentime for Hizdahr, we get to see him in a new context, which is interesting. In his previous episodes, nearly all of his dialogue has been just with Daenerys. But sitting on Dany’s council, we see him interact with other characters—particular Mossador, a former slave. Unsurprisingly, Mossador is advocating the hardest for the prisoner to be executed, wanting to send a blunt message to the Sons of the Harpy. Hizdahr never actually says what he wants to happen to the man—again with his savviness in front of Dany—instead making tempering arguments like, “Why should [a poor freeborn man] want to bring back slavery? What did it ever do for him?”

In this way, Hizdahr is still careful about the things he chooses to say, but he’s a little less precise in how he speaks here, getting slightly heated. From Mossador’s side, the “former slave speaking to former slaveholder” dynamic is clear. While it’s not as pronounced from Hizdahr’s side, it is evident that he’s less patient with Mossador than he is with anyone else. There’s an air of entitlement that can’t help coming out a bit as they’re going back and forth. Nice work on Fry’s part, showing the contrast to how intentional and calculated Hizdahr is in his private audiences with Dany in earlier episodes.

Also, Hizdahr pulls out the “I’m the head of a Great Family” card when that is the opposite of a selling point to every other person in the room. For all his talk about how willing he is to adjust to Dany’s brave new world, old habits die hard.

Y tu Luna también: Narcos: Mexico: Season 1, Episode 6 – “La Última Frontera” (2018)

*Episode premise spoilers.*

I’d say this is an episode with great material for Diego Luna, but that happens with pretty much every episode. Regardless, I really like where the show takes Félix here as the second half of the season kicks off.

Félix has made a deal with the Colombians to start accepting shipments of cocaine, but there are issues that need to be resolved before the first plane comes in. In order to pull off this kind of operation, it’s vital that he establish a partnership with the Mexican government. However, while they vet his organization, 1) the feud with Falcón in Tijuana is escalating, and 2) the DEA has captured a downed plane that they think could hold the key to bagging Félix.

This is an episode where even the plotlines that don’t really feature Félix still revolve around him. Zuno, the friend who arranged Félix’s introduction with a government official, warns him, “Please, whatever you do, keep the noise down. People like my uncle don’t like headlines.” (Side note: in the show, the official is only ever credited as “Mr. X.”) So the last thing Félix needs right now is a turf war with Falcón. As members of both the Tijuana and Sinaloa plazas move on Falcón, no one involved is being all that discreet, and the DFS isn’t stepping in to help. As Nava puts it, “That Sinaloan dirtbag thinks he can make a deal for coke and not discuss our terms first?”

Meanwhile, the DEA has caught a lucky break with one of Félix’s planes. They use it as an in to make a move with intel they acquired illegally. The captured pilot becomes a piece in a shell game, in which they bluff with evidence they don’t really have to put pressure on someone who can get Félix where they want him. Crucially, they lean on the banker who manages Félix’s bank accounts in the U.S., promising they’ll drop (falsified) hints to the cartel that he’s being disloyal unless he convinces Félix to deal with a crisis with his accounts in person. Once Félix is on U.S. soil, they can make their move.

While all this is going on, Félix is doing everything he can to secure the government partnership he needs. As it turns out, there’s little he can do. Right from the start, he’s put on edge—the arranged introduction with Mr. X is at a fancy country club, and even though Félix has built up enough wealth to buy himself social cachet, everyone in the club knows he’s not their people. He hovers on the periphery, guardedly nursing a drink as he tries to figure out who he’s meeting.

Once his disappointingly short introduction has been made, Félix is forced into a waiting game. The government needs to decide whether or not they can get into bed with the cartel without any negative blowback on them, and even though Félix needs this partnership, like, yesterday, they have zero sense of urgency about the timeline. This leaves him twisting in the wind, because even calling Mr. X’s office goes against his need for discretion. He’s bewildered that he barely got to speak at all to Mr. X, let alone talk business, and he’s incensed that Zuno arranged the introduction to his uncle but then didn’t turn up at the meeting himself. When Zuno assures Félix that he already explained his proposal to Mr. X, Félix demands, “Then why the fuck am I here? What did you tell him?”

Félix has intelligence, confidence, and pride in spades, so it’s always interesting to see him in a situation where his fate is in someone else’s hands. Luna is so good at conveying his discomfort at the country club, the way he’s wrongfooted the whole time but trying to appear unruffled on the surface. And after exploding at Zuno, I like how Luna plays his restlessness as he waits on an answer from Mr. X—the man who compulsively attacks problems and finds solutions is stuck, unable to influence the outcome or even speed up its arrival. And I don’t want to spoil the details, but his second conversation with Mr. X is even better!