2025 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

The 78th annual Cannes Film Festival, the first of the major fests to premiere important new works of cinema by some of the world's most prestigious filmmakers, will be held this year on May 13th through 24th. Cannes will open this year with "Leave One Day", a comedy by French filmmaker, Amelie Bonnin. This is the first time a debut feature film has been selected to open the festival. "Leave One Day" tells the story of a young woman who leaves behind her hometown to start a new life but must return due to a family emergency.



The Oscar-winning, French actress Juliette Binoche will serve as this year's President of the Jury who will select the winners of various prizes. Her fellow jurors are American actress, Halle Berry; Congolese filmmaker, Dieudo Hamadi; South Korean filmmaker, Hong Sang-soo; Indian filmmaker, Payal Kapadia; Mexican filmmaker, Carlos Reygadas; Italian actress, Alba Rohrwacher; Moroccan writer, Leïla Slimani and American actor, Jeremy Strong. 

Some of the films in the Main Competition include new works by acclaimed international filmmakers: Wes Anderson ("The Phoenician Scheme"); Richard Linklater ("Nouvelle Vague"); Ari Aster ("Eddington"); Jochim Trier ("Affeksjonsverdi (Sentimental Value)"); Kelly Reichardt ("The Mastermind"); Dominik Moll ("Dossier 137"); Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne ("Jeunes mères (The Young Mothers Home)"); Mario Martone ("Fuori"); Jafar Panahi ("It Was Just an Accident"); Lynne Ramsay ("Die, My Love") and Julia Ducournau ("Alpha").







Some highlights playing out of competition are Spike Lee's latest, "Highest 2 Lowest", which will make it's world premiere, and stars Denzel Washington (his fifth cinematic collaboration with Lee) in a revision of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller "High and Low". Tom Cruise and his possible last time as IMF agent, Ethan Hunt in "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" will also screen at Cannes. Ethan Coen's second feature as a solo filmmaker, "Honey Don't!" will screen during the fest and the latest from Rebecca Zlotowski, "Vie privée (A Private Life)", a French psychological thriller which is notable for starring American actress, Jodie Foster who will appear only speaking the language. There is also a special screening of "Bono: Stories of Surrender", a documentary by Andrew Dominik about the lead vocalist of the Irish rock band, U2.









In Cannes Classics, which will screen restored prints, world cinema, tributes and documentaries on cinema, a restored 4K version of Charlie Chaplin's classic silent comedy, "The Gold Rush" will open this section, celebrating one hundred years since its release, while Stanley Kubrick's 1974 historical epic drama, "Barry Lyndon", also restored in 4K, will close.





The official double poster for the festival features Anouk Aimée on one and Jean-Louis Trintignant on the other from the movie, "A Man and a Woman" by Claude Lelouch, the winner of the Palme d'Or at the 19th Cannes Film Festival in 1966. And Robert De Niro will receive the festival’s Honorary Palme d’Or during the opening-night ceremony.

THE AMATEUR (2025)

Written by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli



Directed by James Hawes



Where & When: AMC The Grove 14, Los Angeles, CA. April 12, 2025 10:00 PM



On the surface, "The Amateur" might appear to be your standard-issue, espionage action-thriller. Yet this rousing, fast-paced film, directed by James Hawes, best known for his work in British television, offers more emotional elements than are usually found in this genre. Rami Malek, the Oscar-winner for his strutting turn as rock star, Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody", stars as a highly intelligent CIA decoder who suffers an unimaginable tragedy and when he feels not enough is being done to capture the perpetrators, he's determined to take matters in his own hands.

Charlie Heller (Malek) is seeing his wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) off on a business trip to London before he heads to work at the CIA. As a meticulous cryptographer, he discovers that his boss, Deputy Director Alex Moore (Holt McCallany) has been secretly involved in covering up planned drone strikes as suicide bombings. When he's called in to the office of the CIA Director (Julianne Nicholson), assuming it's regarding his restricted investigation, Charlie is informed that Sarah has been killed by a terrorist group.

Devastated and barely able to function, the grieving Charlie soon becomes consumed with vengeance. After doing his own investigation, narrowing down the suspects who were involved in his wife's murder, he presents his findings to Moore and his deputy, Caleb Horowitz (Danny Sapani). Telling him they're going to wait in order to take down their entire network, Charlie threatens to reveal the information he discovered unless Moore helps him train to hunt down these terrorists. He's reluctantly sent off to a CIA facility to train with Col. Robert Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) while they search Charlie's home trying to track down the classified files he's hidden. Henderson determines that Charlie might be highly skilled with intel but he's no killer. But Charlie doesn't let that stop him, heading to Europe alone with the goal to find the people responsible and create his own version of revenge.

This is not the first time "The Amateur", based on a novel by Robert Littell, has been made as a film. It was first adapted back in 1981 as a Canadian feature directed by Charles Jarrott and starring John Savage, Christopher Plummer, and Marthe Keller. This modestly budgeted production received mediocre reviews and didn't make much of an impression at the box-office.

The new version of "The Amateur" is a pumped-up, Hollywood affair, taking us on an international scenic trip throughout several European cities, expertly shot by German cinematographer, Martin Ruhe. The detailed intrigue and exhilarating action sequences might be the driving force of the film but it is the strong character development and deeper human connections that help elevate this thriller beyond the expected beats of this style of film. Far from anybody's idea of an action star, Malek comes across believably as just an average tech guy, distraught, angry and ready to take matters into his own hands, knowing he's in way over his head yet remains determined to use his wits to see his preposterous mission through to the end.

While the plot might be formulaic and a bit overcooked, "The Amateur" is a well-crafted, thrilling adventure that keeps you fully engaged throughout the mind-boggling twists and turns. Between the shootings and explosions, the film gets extra points for creating heartfelt moments by characters you actually care about.

VAL KILMER (1959 - 2025)

Val Kilmer, a gifted yet volatile performer who appeared in "Top Gun", "The Doors", "Heat" and "Batman Forever", has passed away on April 1st at the age of sixty-five. Kilmer had been struggling with throat cancer since 2015 and died from complications from pneumonia.

Born in Los Angeles, Kilmer was accepted into Juilliard School in drama and later appeared Off-Broadway in 1983. The following year he broke through after being cast as the lead in the latest comedy spoof by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker (the men behind "Airplane!") with "Top Secret!". Kilmer followed this up with "Real Genius", another comedy set in the world of science, directed by Martha Coolidge in 1985.

Kilmer shifted gears by appearing in "Top Gun", the military action-drama that help cement Tom Cruise as a movie star, in a supporting role that displayed the actor's dramatic intensity. The film was a huge success, helping Kilmer land other interesting roles. He starred in Ron Howard's fantasy-adventure, "Willow" where he co-starred with his future wife, Joanne Whalley in 1989 and then in the following year, Oliver Stone would have him portray the rock musician, Jim Morrison in the biopic, "The Doors" with the actor impressively singing the band's music. Other noteworthy films he appeared include "Thunderheart", "True Romance", the western, "Tombstone" (where he played Doc Holliday and received critical acclaim) and a supporting role in "Heat", the Michael Mann crime drama which paired Robert De Niro and Al Pacino for the first time on screen.

After Michael Keaton, who played the role for two films, dropped out of playing Batman, Kilmer was cast for the next adventure, "Batman Forever" with Joel Schumacher as the new director in 1995. The actor and the director clashed during the making of the film which began Kilmer's a reputation as "difficult". The reviews of "Batman Forever" (which also starred Jim Carrey, Tommy Lee Jones and Nicole Kidman) were mixed but was still a box-office hit. Unhappy with the direction of film, Kilmer did not reprise his role in the follow-up feature (with George Clooney putting on the Bat-suit) although it doesn't seem he was encouraged since Schumacher was returning as director. He went on to star in "The Saint", "The Ghost and the Darkness", "At First Sight" and a remake of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" with Marlon Brando. This film was a very difficult production with the actors having personal issues, problems with each other and the original director, Richard Stanley who was fired and replaced with John Frankenheimer. Not surprisingly, the film would turn out to become a critical and box-office failure.

Kilmer would continue to do great work in film and on stage, creating a one-man show on writer, Mark Twain called "Citizen Twain" he began in 2012. During his treatment for cancer, he underwent chemotherapy and two tracheotomies which left him with a very raspy voice. For the long-awaited sequel to "Top Gun" released in 2022, Cruise insisted that Kilmer appear in the film as his character, Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky although his voice would need to be enhanced somewhat with AI. Kilmer was married to Whalley for nine years, divorcing in 1996 and they had two children, Mercedes and Jack who are both working actors.

MICKEY 17 (2025)

Written & Directed by Bong Joon Ho



Where & When: TCL Chinese Theatres, Hollywood, CA. March 10, 2025 3:40 PM



For the follow-up to his Best Picture Oscar-winning film, "Parasite, the South Korean filmmaker, Bong Joon Ho has continued exploring social themes involving class and politics with "Mickey 17". But this dark comedy travels deep into the future and set in an English-language, new-fashioned world. Since this is an absurdist fantasy, although with a heavy critique on our current political landscape, Bong lets his imagination run wild, creating a bleak, chaotic and wacky environment that remains thoroughly entertaining.

When we first met the seventeenth "reprinted" version of Mickey (played by a game Robert Pattinson), he prepares to meet his end once again after falling in an ice cave and about to be devoured by alien creature. Explaining how he ended up in this predicament, Mickey had signed up to leave an increasingly uninhabitable Earth as crewmember for a spaceship traveling to colonize the planet, Niflheim. But he also had another reason to get off the planet quickly as he and his friend, Timo (Steven Yeun) made a bad business deal and owe some nefarious men a lot of money they are unable to pay back.

While Timo is brought on board as a crew pilot, Mickey, failing to read the fine print, signed on as an "expendable worker". What this entails is that Mickey is essentially used as a human Guinea pig to test how the body will react to the foreign pathogens found on this new planet which will help doctors create cures and vaccines. This will also lead to a lethal demise for Mickey. But he is continuously regenerated as a photocopy of himself yet with memories of his former lives still firmly intact.

Since his first feature, "플란다스의 개 (Barking Dogs Never Bite)", released over twenty-five years ago, Bong has always injected his wickedly perverse yet playfully offbeat sense of humor throughout his films. Based on the novel, "Mickey7" by Edward Ashton, Bong freely strays from that writer's narrative, exploring deeper into the cost of capitalism while keeping the tone of "Mickey 17" tense yet hilariously silly. There is a jumble of genres at play here and the clashing of sci-fi, horror and slapstick comedy isn't always effective. Yet Bong is a gifted visionary with a provocative style, managing to keep this discordant tale engaging much of the time.

The last time we saw Pattinson on screen, he was playing the grim, costumed crime-fighter in "The Batman. With "Mickey 17", the actor reveals his less-seen, comedic gifts as the sweet yet incredibly dim, slack-jawed lab rat, reminding us once again of Pattinson's impressive range as a performer. It turns out that the planet's creatures in the cave had no interest in bringing harm to Mickey, actually helping him out of the icy cavern. He manages to make it back to the space station but since it was assumed that he was a goner, a Mickey 18 has been created. Yet while this new Mickey might look the same, he is far more astute and aggressive than the previous version. Since the rule is that there cannot not be multiples of any "expendable" existing at the same time, "18" tries to kill "17" but the former Mickey manages to convince the new clone that they would be better off working together and sharing duties. And Mickey's girlfriend, Nasha (Naomi Ackie), who also happens to be one of the ship's security agents, is thrilled to enjoy the benefits of having two variants of the same man.

Even in a new ecosystem, there is always someone who wants to grab hold on to power, forcing their will and use it for their own self-serving needs while convincing the population that it's for their best interest. Here we have Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), an ego-fueled, failed politician along with his Lady Macbeth, Ylfa (Toni Collette) clinging closely as a bug in his ear to guide her less sharp husband.

Their plan involves eliminating all of the native species on the planet (with Ylfa considering their tails a delicacy to be used for special sauces she's creating), calling them "creepers" and assuming they are nothing more than brainless creatures. However Mickey is aware they are far from unintelligent, with each alien being able to communicate with each other cerebrally. The two Mickeys are discovered following 18's attempt to assassinate the fascist Marshall. As punishment, they are forced out (with bombs strapped to their bodies to make sure they comply) to collect more creatures for their tails while the creatures are swarming the space station trying to rescue two held captive.

"Mickey 17" might not be considered one of Bong's masterworks, it's far too broad and unwieldy narratively speaking. But with striking camerawork by the great Darius Khondji (who also shot Bong's 2017 sci-fi fantasy, "Okja"), captivating visual effects and impressive performances, the film succeeds in taking us on weird, wild thrilling adventure.

THE 97TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

The Oscars has always been the official end of award season, mainly because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was the very first organization to honor cinema almost one hundred years ago. The Academy is at an awkward moment in its time where it wants to preserve the long traditions of the ceremony yet still wants to be viewed as moving the show into the modern era. The Oscars just made itself available to stream live this year (on Hulu) so their pace of advancement is not exactly speedy.

The show kicked off with a montage from films set in Los Angeles, highlighting various spots throughout the city. Then we have nominee, Ariana Grande for "Wicked" performing a rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from "The Wizard of Oz" before her co-star, Cynthia Erivo does "Home" from "The Wiz". Then the two share the stage to conclude this mash-up with "Defying Gravity" from their musical based on L. Frank Baum's story. As the first time host, Conan O'Brien fit in quite nicely, bringing a good energy and kept the humor at caustic yet good-natured levels, and it's bit of a surprise he wasn't asked before. He started with a filmed take-off on "The Substance" and made some well-placed jokes on the nominated movies (""A Complete Unknown". "A Real Pain". "Nosferatu". These are some of the names I was called on the red carpet"). And O'Brien was talking about a dress code when he singled out Adam Sandler, sitting in the audience wearing his standard uniform of a hoodie and baggy gym shorts, creating a very funny moment.

The producers of this year's telecast wanted to shake up the routine but not too much. Instead of the acting categories, we had five actors come out to sing the praises of the costume designers and cinematographers. While it was a nice touch, it just wasn't as effective as when the previous acting winners honored the nominated actors. But the biggest misstep as far as I'm concerned was the decision to not have the nominated Best Original Songs performed on the show. In it's place we had O'Brien do "I Won't Waste Time" during the opening segment which was pretty funny. But a James Bond musical tribute to Honorary Oscar winning producers, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson (which featured current pop artists, Lisa, Doja Cat and Raye doing popular Bond theme songs) and Queen Latifah honoring the late Quincy Jones (who had won an Honorary Oscar this year) with a rousing rendition of "Ease On Down The Road' from "The Wiz", while entertaining, failed to rise much above time filler. And the selection of the presenters was truly inspired with a nice mix of the legendary (Goldie Hawn, Mark Hamill, Daryl Hannah, Quentin Tarantino and an impressively spry, Mick Jagger) and contemporary (Andrew Garfield, Lily-Rose Depp, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Bowen Yang).

"Anora" had gone in with six nominations and went on to take home five Oscars including Best Picture. Mikey Madison win for Best Actress created the night's biggest upset by beating the favorite, Demi Moore for her performance in "The Substance" which oddly echoes the theme of the body horror film. Sean Baker personally received four awards this night with "Anora" for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing and the top prize, tying with Walt Disney for the most Oscars in a single year although the wins were for four different films. With its Best Picture win, "Anora" (which won the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival) followed in the footsteps of the indie distributor, Neon’s last awards success; the Palme d’Or winning, South Korean drama, "Parasite", the unexpected winner of Best Picture back in 2019.

During his third acceptance speech, Baker encouraged filmmakers to keep making movies for the big screen in order to keep theaters alive and well. My love of going to the movies came directly from my mother who took us regularly to the theater, probably at least once a week. And while this was really the only way to see a motion picture at the time, the thrill of the communal experience of watching a film surrounded with an audience was deeply instilled into me. A theater is really the only perfect setting for me to truly enjoy seeing a film.

Baker also addressed the importance of supporting independent cinema which is so vital in order to tell challenging and innovative stories that the Hollywood system is way too cautious to go anywhere near. As we quickly approach the 100th anniversary of the Oscars, now is the time to support your local theaters, especially the indie-owned screens that are particularly struggling and unfortunately closing at a rapid rate.

So come on people, get off your couches, take your kids and go to a movie theater! Otherwise, there may not be much to celebrate during the upcoming 100th Oscars ceremony.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 2025 Oscars:

Best Picture: "Anora"
Best Director: Sean Baker, "Anora"
Best Original Screenplay: Sean Baker, "Anora"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Peter Straughan, "Conclave"
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Mikey Madison, "Anora"
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist"
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Zoe Saldaña, "Emilia Pérez"
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"
Best Cinematography: Lol Crawley, "The Brutalist"
Best Film Editing: Sean Baker, "Anora"
Best International Feature Film: "I’m Still Here" (Brazil)
Best Documentary Feature Film: "No Other Land"
Best Documentary Short Film: "The Only Girl in the Orchestra"
Best Animated Feature Film: "Flow"
Best Animated Short Film: "In the Shadow of the Cypress"
Best Live Action Short Film: "I’m Not a Robot"
Best Original Song: "El Mal" from "Emilia Pérez" Music by Clément Ducol and Camille, Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
Best Original Score: Daniel Blumberg, "The Brutalist"
Best Production Design: Nathan Crowley, Production Design and Lee Sandales, Set Decoration, "Wicked"
Best Costume Design: Paul Tazewell, "Wicked"
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli, "The Substance"
Best Sound: Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill, "Dune: Part Two"
Best Visual Effects: Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer, "Dune: Part Two"

WINNERS OF THE 2025 BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

"Dreams (Sex Love)", the third film in a trilogy by Norwegian writer/director, Dag Johan Haugerud, received the top prize of the Golden Bear at the close of this year's Berlin Film Festival. This story follows a passionate teenage girl who pours her intense feelings toward a teacher and follows the feature, "Sex" that premiered in Berlin last year and "Love" which was part of the competition at the Venice Film Festival last summer. Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro’s "The Blue Trail" took home the Silver Bear, which is the runner-up award. This drama imagines a future world where people over seventy-five years old are rounded up and placed in a type of concentration camp but the story follows a woman who escapes before arriving to this colony. And the Jury Prize was awarded to "The Message", from Argentine director Iván Fund, about guardians of a nine year old girl who exploit for profit her ability to communicate with animals.

Here is a partial list of winners of the 2025 Berlin Film Festival:

Golden Bear for Best Film: "Drømmer (Dreams)"



Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: "The Blue Trail"
Silver Bear Jury Prize: "The Message"
Silver Bear for Best Director: Huo Meng, "Living the Land"
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Radu Jude, "Kontinental ’25"



Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You"
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Andrew Scott, "Blue Moon"
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: The creative ensemble of "The Ice Tower"
Best Documentary: "Holding Liat"

MY LEAST FAVORITE FILMS OF 2024

Here are a few of the films I saw last year that I have no intention of ever watching again:

"BORDERLANDS"

I should start off by saying that I have never been a fan of movies based on video games. The few that I have seen I really haven't enjoyed at all. The problem I find is that there really isn't enough of a story to base an entire film around and the filmmakers tend not to expand the narrative elements nearly enough to make these video game stories truly cinematic. And the studios end up coasting largely on name recognition to get folks to turn out to theaters. I got lured into seeing the sci-fi action-comedy, "Borderlands" based on the trailer that featured an impressively eclectic cast that included Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Edgar Ramirez, Jack Black and Jamie Lee Curtis. Yet once again, I was tricked. "Borderlands" is a very expensive, poorly conceived, convoluted mess with several of the creative team jumping ship during or after production and even having their names removed from this project. It begins on the planet Pandora with a mercenary soldier named Roland (Hart) kidnaps a teen called Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt) who happens to be the daughter of Atlas (Ramirez), a powerful corporate bigwig. He hires the bounty hunter, Lilith (Blanchett) to rescue his child. Tracking down Roland, Lilith discovers that Atlas actually wants Tina back against her will and she teams up with him to fight against Atlas' army, the Crimson Lance. Then the story goes further into some nonsense involving the secrets of advanced technology by a lost civilization of Pandora which Atlas believes is located in a mysterious vault that only Tina can open. Eli Roth is the credited director (with Tim Miller taking on reshoots) and wrote the screenplay with Joe Crombie (writer, Craig Mazin had his name removed from the script). The end results makes the film feel completely disjointed, impaired by underdeveloped characters, a meandering plot and without a whiff of originality. "Borderlands" was a complete waste of the prestigious talent involved and the one hundred and one minutes of time I will never get back.

"I SAW THE TV GLOW"

"I Saw The TV Glow", Jane Schoenbrun's follow-up to their acclaimed 2021 debut, "We're All Going to the World's Fair", received a glowing reception by many critics with several placing this psychological-horror drama high on their Best of the Year lists. However, the appeal of this film was completely lost on me as my viewing experience was torturous with a feeling like it was never going to end. This '90's-set story follows Owen (Justice Smith), a lonely and isolated teen who bonds with another loner at school, Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) over their love of a television show, "The Pink Opaque". The program involves two teenage girls who use their shared psychic abilities to fight a villain called Mr. Melancholy, who has the power to shift time and existence. Owen and Maddy deeply connect to this show, which in turn, helps them grow closer to each other. Family problems makes Maddy want to run away from home and asks Owen to go with her. After sincerely considering this offer, he decides to stay and Maddy disappears. "The Pink Opaque" is also cancelled around this time. Several years later, Maddy reappears with news that she's been living in their favorite show during her time away. Schoenbrun has tapped into the surrealist, experimental style of the great David Lynch yet "I Saw the TV Glow" feels more muddled and less engaging than a wonderfully puzzling Lynchian experience.

"LISA FRANKENSTEIN"

The romantic-horror comedy, "Lisa Frankenstein" might have been intended be an ode to the classic comedies of the '80's but only ends up being a tired and predictable modern comedy. Lisa (Kathryn Newton) is an odd, goth teenager still trying to cope with the loss of her mother to an axe murderer. And to make matters worse, her father (Joe Chrest) has remarried to Janet (Carla Gugino), a self-involved woman who doesn't care about Lisa, and they live together with her daughter, Taffy (Liza Soberano). Lisa spends her time at the local cemetery and speaks to the grave of a young Victorian man who was killed by lightning. Lightning winds up striking twice and this man (Cole Sprouse) is brought back from the dead as a mute zombie to become Lisa's perfect boyfriend. Zelda Williams (who happens to be the daughter of the late Robin Williams) makes her feature directorial debut with "Lisa Frankenstein" and displays no real gift behind the camera, sadly proving the argument about nepo babies. The shockingly bad screenplay was written by Oscar-winner, Diablo Cody who seemed to have scripted this in a time warp, trapped reliving worn out, comedic ideas about love and relationships. Painfully dull and uninspired, "Lisa Frankenstein" is an apparent comedy that never came to life, effectively dead on arrival.

"MADAME WEB"

Based on a little known, minor character in the Spider-Man comic book universe, the super-hero film, "Madame Web" has managed to do nothing to make us intrigued, let alone inspired, to want to see anymore of her. Dakota Johnson has once again been given a leading role as Cassandra Webb, a New York City paramedic who develops abilities of a clairvoyant following a near-death experience. This leads her to connecting to three young girls (Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced and Celeste O'Connor) and protect them from shady businessman, Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim). Also having limited psychic abilities and enhanced strength he obtained from a Peruvian spider, Sims has visions that these girls will be the cause of his demise. And that means he wants to end their lives before that can happen, forcing Cassandra to develop the use of her powers in order to save them. The director, S.J. Clarkson, who has had an extensive career working in British television, makes her feature film directorial debut with "Madame Web" and is in way over her head trying to get a handle on the comic-book genre. The hazy and shapeless screenplay assembled by Clarkson along with the team of Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless and Claire Parker does the film no favors. I do not pretend to understand the allure of Johnson yet the offspring of the charismatic actors, Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith continues to book jobs despite adding very little charm and appeal to her performances. With an incoherent story, underwhelming visual style and listless thrills, "Madame Web" finds success as another very expensive addition to the garbage heap of super-hero movies that failed to launch a hopeful franchise.