Bill Bria
@billbria
He/Him. Staff Writer at /Film, contributor to Discussing Film, Dread Central, Crooked Marquee, The Wrap, Daily Grindhouse, others. Co-host of Bill & Ashley’s Terror Theater. An actor and comedian sometimes. A goofball all other times.
MANDALORIAN & GROGU: finally, they made a Star War for me to despise! Some cute moments can’t save it from feeling terminally dull & offensively inoffensive. Feels like marathoning the blandest episodes of the show that are also totally inessential. A waste of time & potential.
Looks like I’ll be attending something dramatic next week… @a24movies.bsky.social
I got to see #TheStrangersMovie Trilogy tonight. All 3 chapters properly edited into a single film (with intermission) as originally envisioned. In this cut, it’s the most ambitious slasher film since TERRIFIER 2. Harlin’s a mad lad, & Madelaine Petsch is a helluva Final Girl.
Here are my top 25 movies of 2025! No outlet to publish this in this year, so a notes app screenshot it is. We’ve been blessed with a ton of cinematic riches this year, so while I could fuss over the order and inclusion for several more hours, but I’m going with my gut.
Jackman & Hudson stellar, the soundtrack rips. It’s got the “based on an improbably true story” as ROOFMAN, the unique biopic thing as DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE, but the 2025 movie it most closely resembles thematically is THE MONKEY. Life’s hard, might as well sing and/or dance.
#SongSungBlue gets emotional whiplash from resisting being a standard weepie. Instead, it wants to be a celebration of performers, their love of music, & its power to make life’s hardships all worth it. Overwrought, exuberant, catchy & charming; sounds like Neil Diamond to me.
Thanks so much to @bjcolangelo.bsky.social for spotting this EDDINGTON pull quote I didn’t know I had! Proud to stand alongside these other folks listed (as well as, by implication, John Waters)
#28YearsLaterTheBoneTemple sees Nia DaCosta take Alex Garland’s uninhibited script to delirious heights of transverberation. Easily one of Ralph Fiennes & Jack O’Connell’s finest hours. Severe, emotional, thoughtful, and playful in equal measure. Also: metal as fuck. How’s that?
How it feels when James Cameron tells you “good conversation” after your interview
Last night, I was honored to get a round trip ticket to Pandora on the Disney lot to see a collection of costumes, props, filming equipment and more from the AVATAR films, including #AvatarFireAndAsh! It’s a helluva exhibit, increasing my appreciation for the films.
#SisuRoadToRevenge repeats the original & adds “bigger budget” spices in the form of Stephen Lang & even more outrageously cartoonish kills. Jalmari Helander leans into the myth-making of Aatami, and the revenge plot, tho standard, packs a more satisfying punch than the first.
Quick PSA to everyone in that theater: see where it says “Livestream?” Of course, a livestream vs. in person Q&A shouldn’t matter to you if you were actually showing up for what she had to say versus the clout of you taking a picture or begging for an autograph.
#Pluribus is easily the best new TV series of the year. Vince Gilligan slides back into X-FILES mode, bringing along BREAKING BAD’s verve and his irreverent satire. Rhea Seehorn creates a totally unique antiheroine: a mix of righteous, messy humanity and ugliness. It’s brilliant.
#Eternity is amazing. A 21st century Old Hollywood melodrama, David Freyne's film is Capra by way of John Patrick Shanley, with dashes of Powell & Pressburger, Kaufman/Gondry & Gilliam. Olsen, Teller, & Turner are quirky & touching in equal measure. My favorite surprise of 2025!
#IsThisThingOn continues Bradley Cooper’s earnest look at finding catharsis through performance through the lens of a crumbling marriage where the dead ends & new beginnings start to blur together. Arnett & Dern help make it all attractively real, refreshingly averting cliches.