film | The Last Movie Guy

One Battle After Another (2025): An Action Epic from P. T. Anderson

Bob is absorbed in his own world, getting high while The Battle of Algiers (1966) plays on the television. The ringing of a telephone is enough to suddenly drag him back into his past and snap him into reality. By the time we reach this moment, One Battle After Another (2025) has already infected us with its frenzy. For director Paul Thomas Anderson, this is his second time adapting a novel by Thomas Pynchon. In 2014, he adapted Inherent Vice for the screen, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the peculiar detective Doc Sportello. Now Anderson draws on Vineland, published in 1990, to create the universe of One Battle After Another.

Good News: Dark Political Satire on the Yodogo Incident – TIFF 2025

Posted on September 25 by Hugo Pagan Soto

In March 1970, nine members of the radical group Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction hijacked a plane at Tokyo International Airport. Good News (2025) by Byun Sung-hyun draws inspiration from this event to craft a portrait of the happenings through political satire and dark humor. The South Korean director delivers a visually striking film with a brisk pace, achieving an excellent balance between comedy and suspense.

Christy: Sydney Sweeney Steps Into the Ring – TIFF 2025

Posted on September 22 by Hugo Pagan Soto

On the night of November 23, 2010, Christy Martin was brutally attacked by her husband. After stabbing her several times, he shot her in the chest, left her for dead on the floor of their bedroom, and went to take a shower. Miraculously, Christy managed to stand up and walk to the street, where she found a driver who took her to a hospital. This episode in the turbulent life of the former welterweight champion feels like something out of a horror movie. In Christy (2025), directed by David Michôd, we revisit the life inside and outside the ring of one of the most dominant female boxers of all time.

The Furious: Pure Adrenaline and Martial Arts Mastery – TIFF 2025

Posted on September 17 by Hugo Pagan Soto

Kenji Tanigaki, stuntman and fight choreographer turned director, delivers his eighth film with The Furious, a fast-paced ode to legendary Asian martial arts cinema. While the film navigates familiar genre paths, Tanigaki finds his own voice, crafting a work with impeccable mise-en-scène, precise technical execution, and a meticulous attention to artistic detail.

The Secret Agent: A Political Thriller Set in Brazil’s Dark Past – TIFF 2025

Posted on September 12 by Hugo Pagan Soto

In 1977, Brazil was in the midst of a military dictatorship. General Ernesto Geisel led the government and was the fourth military leader since the 1964 coup d’état. Against this political backdrop, Kleber Mendonça Filho gives us The Secret Agent (2025), an intense political thriller that revolves around Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a man trying to escape his past. Through the eyes of Marcelo, the director takes us on a journey that revives the dark past of a nation and, through fiction, tells a story that was the reality for thousands of Brazilians during the dictatorship.