‘BUGONIA’ Is Alienating For All the Right Reasons

October 29, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Aiden Delbis, Alicia Silverstone, Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Stavros Halkias, Yorgos Lanthimos 6 Comments

A twisted morality play-cum-psychological thriller with a maybe-science-fiction bite – one that only Yorgos Lanthimos could execute at this level – Bugonia may be a remake, but it’s still infused with vivid originality and alive with possibility. The story of a radicalized gig worker and his slow-witted cousin who kidnap a powerful biochem CEO (convinced she’s an alien from the Andromeda galaxy) plays out as a tense, one-location two-hander that crackles with the high-voltage energy of Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone. It’s unnerving, darkly funny, sharply acted, and loaded with just enough satirical commentary on the tragedy of modern life to keep it gripping from its bleak opening moments to its glorious finish. Read More

Ari Aster’s ‘EDDINGTON’ Sloppily Relitigates Pandemic Woes

July 16, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged A24, Ari Aster, Austin Butler, Deirdre O’Connell, Eddington, Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Luke Grimes, Micheal Ward, Pedro Pascal 1 Comment

Covid denialism. Mask mandates. BLM protests. Ari Aster’s fourth feature revisits all the trials and tribulations of the 2020 pandemic, dragging us back to that societal fever dream while adopting a decidedly odd “both sides” stance to interrogate the existential mania of the era. The result is a film that tries to tackle a lot—most notably how partisan mainstream media, social platforms, and fringe sites funnel viewers into conspiratorial rabbit holes that deepen division and further otherize an already fraying left/right American divide—but ends up feeling more like the frazzled screed of someone who, frankly, had a really bad pandemic. Read More

‘KINDS OF KINDNESS’ A Freaky Foray Into Yorgos’ Hilarious Depravity

June 20, 2024 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Emma Stone, Hong Chau, Jesse Plemons, Joe Alwyn, Kinds of Kindness, Mamoudou Athie, Margaret Qualley, Reviews, Willem Dafoe, Yorgos Lanthimos 10 Comments

A trio of demented fables make up Yorgos Lanthimos’ most recent film, Kinds of Kindness. An anthological miasma of the bizarre and misanthropic, Yorgos returns to his biting roots as a somewhat impenetrable provocateur, escaping easy explanation at every turn, armed with a razor sharp sense of satirical humor. Featuring an outstanding ensemble cast that cycles through various characters throughout the film’s distinct – and mostly unconnected – three short, Kinds of Kindess filters the filmmaker’s most esoteric curiosities through an almost Black Mirror filter, making for a collection of works that are strong and striking on there own merit but add up to something entirely captivating when taken as a whole. Read More

The Ten Best Performances of 2023

December 29, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists, Most Popular Tagged All of Us Strangers, American Fiction, Andrew Scott, Barry Keoghan, Emma Stone, Jeffrey Wright, Margaret Qualley, Mark Ruffalo, Molly Gordon, Paul Giamatti, Poor Things, Rosamund Pike, Saltburn, Theater Camp 2 Comments

It has already begun: the long march towards coronating a new quartet of actors whose performances are deemed the finest of 2023. And while the Oscars, Globes, and flurry of other guild awards tend to recognize the same handful of actors over and over again, here at Silver Screen Riot, we have our own version of who offered the best performances of 2023. So now that we’ve already gotten our way through the Ten Best TV Shows of 2023, and the Ten Best Movies of 2023, it’s time to move onto the Ten Best Performances of 2023.

Though it should go without saying, by “best”, I mean entirely my favorites so no need to send over an Excel sheet proving me why my preferences are wrong. From a year teeming with standout performances, several noteworthy ones made the greatest impact, though I could probably double this list and be more happy with it. But time is finite (mine and yours) and so here they are: Read More

Fantastical ‘POOR THINGS’ A Madcap Adventure Through Self-Discovery

December 4, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos 6 Comments

As if involving the likes of Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo in a Yorgos Lanthimos film wasn’t enough of a good thing, the delightfully madcap Poor Things treats viewers to the combined prowess of these actors, harnessing their considerable talents for a wickedly funny and fresh reimagining of Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’. Stone plays Bella Baxter, the creation of mad scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), who prefers simply to go by the modest moniker “God”. Lanthimos presents Bella Baxter, a dullard reanimated beauty, as a miniature study in maturation. Viewers are invited to observe her journey, witnessing her rapid learning and growth onscreen. From her awkward first steps through her unhinged sexual awakening and eventually onto self-discovery and actualization, Bella’s odyssey is a delightful mix of hysterical black comedy and a thought-provoking feminist manifesto on personal evolution and revolution. Read More

Devilishly Fashionable ‘CRUELLA’ Sees Emma Stone Break Bad On the Catwalk

May 26, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Craig Gillespie, Cruella, Disney, Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Jenny Beavan, Jeremy Strong, Joel Fry, Nicolas Karakatsanis, Paul Walter Hauser, Reviews 1 Comment

Turning any iconic Disney villain into a sympathetic (but still devious) protagonist is no easy feat, particularly when that task involves ‘both sides’ of turning 101 Dalmatian puppies into haute couture. Disney’s atrocious Maleficent origin story wholly bungled the task, dropping the bag on transforming that striking villain into a whole-cloth anti-hero, instead defanging and deflating the malevolent fairy, leaving her all but unrecognizable, costume aside. With Cruella, Disney course-corrects on that previous failing, striking the right balance between exploring the roots of its devilish protagonist while still remaining true to her animated rancorous counterpart. Read More

‘ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP’ Is Mindless Zom-Com with Neither Bite Nor a Point

October 16, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Abigail Breslin, Dave Callaham, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg, Luke Wilson, Out in Theaters, Paul Wernick, Reviews, Rhett Reese, Rosario Dawson, Ruben Fleischer, Thomas Middleditch, Woody Harrelson, Zoey Deutch, Zombieland 2, Zombieland: Double Tap Leave a comment

Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) have taken up residence in the White House to brave the lingering zombie apocalypse. Their days spent coiled like dragons atop stockpiles of munitions and supplies have led to a general sense of longing. For Tallahassee, it’s the road that’s calling. Witchita meanwhile can’t calm her fear of committment while Little Rock longs for a romantic companion of her own. It’s only the group nerd Columbus who seems to enjoy a sense of post-apocalyptic calm, probably because the apocalypse has afforded him the impossible scenario of hooking up with Emma Stone. When the ladies unexpectedly pack up and head out one night, Tallahassee and Columbus meet a new tagalong in Madison (Zoey Deutch) and brave the great zombieland unknown to reunite the group. Read More

‘THE FAVOURITE’ is the Cattiest Movie of the Year in the Best Way Humanly Possible

November 21, 2018 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Best of 2018, Deborah Davis, Emma Stone, Nicholas Hoult, Olivia Colman, Out in Theaters, Rachel Weisz, Reviews, The Favourite, Tony McNamara, Yorgos Lanthimos 4 Comments

Vying for the sole affection of Queen Anne – and all the status that comes with it – two cousins from different stations stoke a bitter rivalry in Yorgos Lanthimos exquisitely-mounted The Favourite. Scrumptiously rancorous, Lanthimos’ foray into costume drama is a series of verbal death matches, its characters clawing at one another’s reputation, the performances from its perfectly-cast stars provide each and every syllable of Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara’s wonderfully cutting script a searing eclipse of clever-wit, cunning undercuts and good-humor that never second-guesses going straight for the jugular. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘LA LA LAND’

December 7, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Benj Pasek, Best of 2016, Damien Chazelle, Emma Stone, Justin Hurwitz, Justin Paul, La La Land, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ryan Gosling 4 Comments

Infectiously affable La La Land injects new life into a tried and true Hollywood tradition: the musical. A toe-tapping throwback to the tenure of Gene Kelley and Fred Astaire, Damien Chazelle’s Dom Pérignon-bubbly follow-up to excellent Whiplash is a joyous and bittersweet ode to a time when Hollywood peddled contagious cheer and catchy carols, pretty performers and movie magic. All that and more. Complete with lively choreography and an instantly antiseptic soundtrack, La La Land is an upbeat cure-all to the depressive onslaught of 2016 . And I don’t even like musicals. Read More

Out in Theaters: IRRATIONAL MAN

July 31, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Emma Stone, Irrational Man, Joaquin Phoenix, Out in Theaters, Parker Posey, Reviews, Woody Allen 1 Comment

To “get into character,” many actors have taken it upon themselves to devastate their money-making temples. History credits Robert De Niro with starting the trend; his packing on pounds for Raging Bull set a record, as well as the stage for silver screen physical transformations. Today, Christian Bale is a particularly looney example of someone willing to batter himself with physically implausible weight-gain and loss but, to his credit, it informs his performance in oft tremendous ways. Read More