Sonya Alexander

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is like a fine y-crafted bow on top of your favorite Christmas present. It complements it perfectly. This eighth and final entry in the franchise finely brackets an action-packed series that’s constantly pushed the envelope with high octane stunts and superb visual effects.

Action films have evolved over time and now not only showcase the latest technological advancements in special effects but also include more diverse casts. With Shadow Force, Leon Chills and Joe Carnahan have crafted an entertaining actioner with very attractive leads in Kerry Washington as Kyrah Owens and Omar Sy as Isaac Sarr.

What might be a fairytale for one might be a nightmare for another. Filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt riffs off of this notion in her feature debut The Ugly Stepsister. Instead of Cinderella as the main character, Elvira, her stepsister, is the POV of the story.

Ryan Coogler’s (Black Panther, Creed) Sinners is an exhilarating paean to the cultural richness of the Mississippi Delta and the Low Country and its hotbed of spiritual stew which includes hoodoo, voodoo, and Yoruba. The characters in the film joyfully affirm its message that music can pierce the veil between the physical and the spiritual worlds.

Peter Craig has co-written such recent hits as Top Gun: Maverick, The Batman, and Gladiator II, but he takes on directing and showrunning duties with Apple TV+ Dope Thief. He calls directing “the ultimate realization of writing.”

Writer/Producer Line Langebek Knudsen (I’ll Come Running) understands that the visual isn't just important in a narrative, but sound is as well.

This year’s 97th Oscars had a plethora of first-time nominees in many categories. It’s difficult to believe that women with illustrious careers like Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres have never received any Oscar love.

Documentaries can point to societal ills or looming political upheaval. Depending on how well they're made, they can move the socio-political needle on an issue and create change.

Trudie Styler discusses finding the soul of Naples while filming 'Posso entrare? An Ode to Naples' and exploring the historical and socio-economic wounds of this ancient metropolis and how it heals itself and survives through its people’s resilience, ideals, and creativity.

Which non-English language film was the first to nab the top prize for Best Picture?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rarely acknowledges horror. Only a handful of horror films have been nominated for Best Picture. The Exorcist (1973) and Jaws (1975) are a couple of films in this exclusive club.

Scott Derrickson, director of Apple TV+’s new The Gorge, is best-known for directing horror films he co-writes, including The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, and The Black Phone. When he takes on a project he didn’t write, like The Gorge, there’s one main thing he looks for in a script. “I’m looking to be surprised,” he tells MovieMaker.

Join us as we celebrate the magic of the movies weekly until the Oscars airs on March 2, 2025.

Love Hurts director Jonathan “JoJo” Eusebio came to filmmaking from the world of martial arts: In the ’90s, he attended the Los Angeles-area Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts, where he met fellow practitioners David Leitch and Chad Stahelski.

2025 promises to be a year of revisiting some popular franchises, reimagining old favorites, and taking chances with original films suited for various proclivities.