Mark Hamill – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THE LONG WALK – Review by Susan Granger

September 23, 2025September 25, 2025 Susan Granger David Jonsson, Francis Lawrence, JT Mollner, lionsgate, Mark Hamill, Ray Garraty, stephen king, the long walk

With uneasiness and uncertainty dominating the news, it’s not surprising that the latest Stephen King adaptation – The Long Walk – tanked at the box-office. Instead of angst and agony, audiences are looking for optimism and an emotional escape from adversity. The brutal premise is deceptively simple: 50 young men – one from each state – are chosen by lottery to participate in an annual contest that involves continuous walking at no less than three miles-an-hour. If someone fails to maintain that pace, he is shot in the head.

Reviews

THE LONG WALK – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

September 16, 2025September 25, 2025 Valerie Kalfrin David Jonsson, Francis Lawrence, JT Mollner, lionsgate, Mark Hamill, Ray Garraty, stephen king, the long walk

Brutal and wrenching, The Long Walk is a Stephen King adaptation that you may watch only once but find impossible to forget. Based on the novelist’s first work, later published in 1979 as Richard Bachman, The Long Walk chronicles a twisted endurance contest: Fifty young men from across the United States walk more than 300 miles across Maine, not stopping for food, water, or even sleep.

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THE LONG WALK – Review by Nadine Whitney

September 15, 2025September 14, 2025 Nadine Whitney David Jonsson, Francis Lawrence, JT Mollner, Mark Hamill, Ray Garraty, stephen king, the long walk

It isn’t very often that it can be claimed that a film is created with the very best instincts of all the creatives involved merging into a masterpiece. Yet, that is precisely the magic involved in Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk adapted from Stephen King’s first novel (which was published after Carrie) adapted by JT Mollner. Put Stephen King’s aptitude for humanism in horror together with Francis Lawrence’s skill for dystopias (The Hunger Games series), and JT Mollner’s streamlined script and we are given a masterpiece. The Long Walk is bound for immediate status as a classic of the dystopian genre. A rare and unforgettable film.

Reviews

THE LONG WALK – Review by T. J. Callahan

September 10, 2025September 11, 2025 T. J. Callahan Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Frances Lawrence, Judy Greer, Mark Hamill, stephen king, the long walk

Welcome to Walk or Die. Just how far would you walk in order to win anything you want in the world? That’s the carrot on the end of the stick for 50 boys selected by lottery to take part in The Long Walk, an annual contest in which the young men must maintain a pace of at least 3 mph or risk execution on the spot. The competition ends when one walker remains alive. The Long Walk is one of the most unconventional films you’ll see all year, but also the deepest…deeply disturbing, deeply intense, deeply inhumane and deeply moving.

Reviews

THE LONG WALK – Review by Susan Kamyab

September 2, 2025September 3, 2025 Susan Kamyab Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Francis Lawrence, Mark Hamill, stephen king, the long walk

Based on Stephen King’s first-written novel, the film is set in a dystopian future where a group of teenage boys compete to win a life-changing prize in an annual contest known as The Long Walk, where they must maintain a certain walking speed or get shot. It is as stressful as it sounds, pushing horror boundaries that are equally terrifying, thought-provoking and emotional.

Reviews

THE LIFE OF CHUCK – Review by T.J. Callahan

June 4, 2025June 7, 2025 T. J. Callahan Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mark Hamill, Mia Sara, Mike Flanagan, stephen king, The Life of Chuck

Chuck Krantz is the Oz of the Apocalypse. The last meme. Larger than environmental degradation. His face is on billboards, in windows, on television…thanking him for 39 years of service. For what? No one seems to know Chuck or why his likeness is everywhere. But just as his time is up, so is the world’s. Armageddon is near. Or is it just the Twilight Zone?

Reviews

THE WILD ROBOT – Review by Susan Granger

February 10, 2025February 13, 2025 Susan Granger Bill Nighy, catherine ohara, dreamworks, DreamWorks Animation, Lupita Nyong'o, Mark Hamill, Pedro Pascal, Peter Brown, Stephanie Hsu, The Wild Robot, Ving Rhames

When a storm at sea dislodges a shipping container from a cargo ship, a large box washes ashore on a faraway island inhabited only by animals. Battered and bruised but incredibly resilient, the sole occupant of the box is a Rozzum 7134 android assistant (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) that can walk, talk, assimilate information and help around the house. She’s designed to serve. Confused about her kindly nature, the animals (beavers, possums, porcupines, deer, bears) view Roz as a monster and try to kill her – until by accident she accidentally crushes all but one goose egg in a nest.

Reviews

THE WILD ROBOT – Review by Susan Kamyab

October 25, 2024November 1, 2024 Susan Kamyab Bill Nighy, catherine ohara, dreamworks, DreamWorks Animation, Lupita Nyong'o, Mark Hamill, Pedro Pascal, Peter Brown, Stephanie Hsu, The Wild Robot, Ving Rhames

While the animation is stunning, the beauty of this movie is the simplicity. Director Chris Sanders has taken Peter Brown’s story and effectively touched on the current state of humanity, the impacts of global warming, and most importantly, the significance of compassion and motherhood. It may sound like a basic or familiar plot, but through its characters, visuals, and subtly it’s a surprisingly refreshing tale. Lupita Nyong’o and Kit Connor’s mother-son relationship is breath-taking and will likely make you want to immediately hug your own mother or parental figure in your life. It also reminds us; you don’t have to give birth to a child to give them life.

Reviews

THE WILD ROBOT – Review by T.J. Callahan

September 25, 2024 T. J. Callahan Bill Nighy, catherine ohara, dreamworks, DreamWorks Animation, Lupita Nyong'o, Mark Hamill, Pedro Pascal, Peter Brown, Stephanie Hsu, The Wild Robot, Ving Rhames

What would an intelligent robot do in the wilderness? Find out in DreamWorks’ computer animated sci-fi adventure, The Wild Robot, based on the New York Times bestselling children’s book series by Peter Brown. We get to know Roz (ROZZUM unit 7134) after the utilitarian android is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings while building relationships with the variety of animals living there plus taking care of an orphaned baby goose. It’s Castaway meets Wall-E meets Migration.

Reviews

THE WILD ROBOT – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

September 25, 2024September 25, 2024 Valerie Kalfrin Bill Nighy, catherine ohara, dreamworks, DreamWorks Animation, Lupita Nyong'o, Mark Hamill, Pedro Pascal, Peter Brown, Stephanie Hsu, The Wild Robot, Ving Rhames

I’ve long had a weakness for robots that burst with personality, from R2-D2 to The Iron Giant to WALL-E. The Wild Robot, while not as transcendent as 2008’s WALL-E, is nevertheless a gorgeous and gratifying animated film about discovering where you fit. Through a robot that experiences empathy, it encourages an audience’s compassion, celebrating kindness as a survival skill.

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