Hamnet (2025)

Jessie Buckley won the Best Actress Oscar as Agnes, the emotional and mystical wife of Will Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) in this wonderful movie. Everyone calls it a tear jerker, but you must know by now that I will not tell you what will jerk the tears because I hate spoilers. Terrific support comes from Emily Watson as Will's mother, Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Agnes and Will's firstborn Susanna, and Jacobi Jupe and Olivia Lynes as their twins Hamnet and Judith. At the very end we will see Noah Jupe, Jacobi's older brother, playing an actor in a play within the movie.

Chloé Zhao directs from the screenplay she wrote with Maggie O'Farrell, adapted from O'Farrell's 2020 historical fiction novel. A card at the opening states that the names Hamnet and Hamlet were interchangeable in Shakespeare's time. Max Richter's moody score is currently setting my mood on Apple Music

The movie's 96 wins and 302 other nominations included Oscar nods for Best Picture, Zhao for directing, Zhao and O'Farrell for the adapted screenplay, Richter for the music, Fiona Crombie for production design, Malgosia Turzanska for costume design, and Nina Gold for casting.

Although he didn't win anything for this picture, cinematographer Lukasz Zal's work is evocative and did get 21 non-Oscar nominations.

There's a lot of interesting trivia but read it afterwards if you want to avoid spoilers. I will tell you that a very moving part of the final scene was actually improvised.

Buckley was last blogged for Women Talking, Mescal for All of Us Strangers, Watson for The Theory of Everything, Noah Jupe for Honey Boy, Zhao for Nomadland, Richter for Never Look Away, and Zal for Zone of Interest. Breathnach has another movie coming out this year. Jacobi Jupe was 12 when this was shot and it's his second feature, with three TV series under his belt (his brother was 20 at production time), and Lynes makes her feature debut with this one.

Rotten Tomatoes critics and audiences aren't playing, with averages of 87 and 93% respectively. We rented it on February 5 and now you can stream it on Peacock with a subscription.

Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi - 2025)

I liked it a lot this story of a Norwegian filmmaker, the estranged father of two adult daughters, who wants to make a movie and, in the process, reconcile with his family. The cast is terrific: Stellan Skarsgård as the father Gustav, Renate Reinsve as actress daughter Nora, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as historian daughter Agnes, and Elle Fanning as Rachel, the American star cast in the movie within the movie.

Joachim Trier directs from the script written by him and Eskil Vogt. I'm enjoying Hania Rani's dreamy original score on Apple Music as I type.

I jotted down while I was watching it that the beginning seems to be from the point of view of the house. In fact, imdb's trivia states that Trier got the idea for the movie when his family home was put up for sale and he thought about all that had happened there.

Awards season is pretty much done and this racked up 71 wins, including the Cannes Grand Prize and the Best International Feature Oscar, as well as 302 other nominations including eight for the Oscars (best picture, directing, screenplay, and all four actors named above).

Skarsgård was last blogged for Thor: The Dark World, Reinsve, Trier, and Vogt for The Worst Person in the World, and Fanning for A Complete Unknown.

Rotten Tomatoes critics and audiences value this very highly, averaging 95 and 94%. I rented it so long ago--on January 30(!)--that it's now available to stream with a subscription to Hulu. Lastly, its 33 producers earns it a spot on my Producers Plethora Prize list.

The Secret Agent (Agente Secreto - 2025)

Maybe I should watch it again (I probably will not). A long-haul airplane ride can be distracting, and, on that trip, I had a lot of trouble following this lengthy story of a, well, secret agent in 1977 Brazil during political turmoil. That said, it earned 91 wins and 162 more nominations, many for lead actor Wagner Moura. The only actor I recognized was Udo Kier in a small part.

Kleber Mendonça Filho directs from his own original screenplay and you can hear nineteen minutes of the score by Mateus Alves and Tomas Alves Souza on Apple Music.

My personal trivia is that a Brazilian Lyft driver I met in San Francisco last month was familiar with Moura. Though I saved this substack article linking the movie to Brazil's current political climate, I didn't read it.

Kier was last blogged for Swan Song and Filho, Alves, and Souza for Bacurau (Nighthawk). Among Moura's dozens of credits is playing Pablo Escobar in twenty episodes of the series Narcos.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics make no secret of their affection for this movie, averaging 98%, while its audiences are slightly behind at 83. Before that plane ride February 10, I learned how to rent a movie and watch it offline (see below). Now this one is on Hulu with a subscription.

Steps to Rent and Download for Offline Viewing

1. Rent and Download: Search for a movie in the app of your choice (I use Apple TV), select Rent, and download it onto your device. Do this up to 30 days before watching.
2. Verify Download: Ensure the download is complete before boarding. The file is stored directly on your device.
3. Start Online: While still connected to the internet, open the app, open the rental, and press play for a few seconds. This helps to activate the 48-hour viewing window (most rentals give you only 48 hours to watch once you have started).
4. Offline Access: On the plane, activate Airplane Mode. Open the app on your device, go to Library, select Rentals, and play your movie.

5. Note: noise-canceling over-the-ear headphones are a must on airplanes.