Sebastian Stan – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THUNDERBOLTS* – Review by Cortland Jacoby

April 30, 2025May 4, 2025 Cortland Jacoby florence pugh, Jake Shreier, julia louis dreyfus, Marvel Cinematic Universe, mcu, Sebastian Stan, Thunderbolts*

Misfits. Assemble. After multiple movies and projects where they were supporting characters, Marvel has finally brought its most dysfunctional antiheroes together in Thunderbolts*. They’re here to kick butt and take names – or at least try to. As we’ve seen in Black Widow and Falcon and the Winter Soldier, corrupt Contessa and current CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) has approached numerous assassins and field agents to join what we thought was a league of antiheroes. Each of them, fed up with being a pawn, approaches her with the idea of one last gig.

Reviews

THUNDERBOLTS* – Review by T.J. Callahan

April 30, 2025May 1, 2025 T. J. Callahan florence pugh, julia louis dreyfus, Marvel Cinematic Universe, mcu, Sebastian Stan, Thunderbolts*

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is celebrating its 17th anniversary with the arrival of Thunderbolts*. The 36th film in the MCU, these Thunderbolts have lightning, and they can be very, very frightening. They can also be magnifico…when they’re not squabbling or haunted by their past. They are an unconventional team of antiheroes who are lured to a death trap by crooked CIA chief Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). In order to save their lives and a world that relies on Avengers to keep the peace, these misfits must work through their dysfunctions to complete a dangerous mission that will test their abilities and their mettle.

Reviews

THUNDERBOLTS* – Review by Susan Kamyab

April 30, 2025May 1, 2025 Susan Kamyab florence pugh, Jake Shreier, julia louis dreyfus, Marvel Cinematic Universe, mcu, Sebastian Stan, Thunderbolts*

Since the overhaul of Marvel films that have been released since Endgame, it’s been difficult to get excited for any of the upcoming sequel or spinoffs. However, the 36th installment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thunderbolts* offers something more original and more cathartic than the traditional superhero formula. Thunderbolts* succeeds in doing what Suicide Squad couldn’t, making moviegoers care about a group of powerful outsiders, and create an intriguing backstory that will leave you curious to know more.

Reviews

THUNDERBOLTS* – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

April 30, 2025May 5, 2025 Valerie Kalfrin florence pugh, jake schreier, julia louis dreyfus, Marvel Cinematic Universe, mcu, Sebastian Stan, Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts*, the latest Marvel Studios adventure, at first looks to be yet-another story about a ragtag band forced to work together to save the world from a larger threat—until it passes the midpoint. There, the film twists into something disturbing, then thoughtful and nearly sublime. I didn’t expect a superhero film that played up the jokes in the trailers to become an earnest metaphor for positive mental health and dealing with trauma, but I’m all for it.

Reviews

THE APPRENTICE – Review by T.J. Callahan

October 7, 2024 T. J. Callahan Ali Abbasi, donald trump, jeremy strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan, roy cohn, Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

Long before real estate mogul Donald Trump hired wannabe business executives to be his protégés on a reality television show, there was a rude and remorseless, pompous and pandering New York lawyer named Roy Cohn who brought a young Trump into his legal laboratory and groomed him in his image. This transformation is the basis of the biographical film The Apprentice.

Reviews

THE APPRENTICE – Review by Liz Braun

September 11, 2024October 7, 2024 Liz Braun Ali Abbasi, donald trump, jeremy strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan, roy cohn, Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice, TIFF

What we talk about when we talk about The Apprentice is Jeremy Strong in the role of Roy Cohn, a performance of such ferocity and richness that a viewer is left slack-jawed in wonder. But The Apprentice is essentially a film about how Trump became Trump; besides Roy Cohn’s influence, the movie covers the 1970s and ‘80s version of Trump — his marriage to Ivana (Maria Bakalova), his failed casinos in Atlantic City, what looks like a growing reliance on amphetamines, and so on. It’s an often amusing tale, but essentially tragic. Director Ali Abbasi shows the long-gone crumbs of humanity in Donald Trump; the notion of Trump starting out as an inept, easily impressed young man is an interesting take. Expect heated viewer arguments after every screening — always a good sign.

Reviews

A DIFFERENT MAN – Review by Serena Seghedoni

February 20, 2024February 21, 2024 Serena Seghedoni (Archived contributor) A Different Man, Aaron Schimberg, Berlin Film Festival, Berlinale 2024, John Keating, Renate Reinsve, Sebastian Stan

At the center of it all is New Yorker Edward (Sebastian Stan), whose facial deformities have become so severe that his doctor (John Keating) fears he might lose his eyesight soon. But it’s not just a matter of health: Edward’s entire life revolves around his condition, from the way people react to him to the lack of opportunities he’s given, and he also doesn’t have any friends. It’s a miserable existence, and though our protagonist might not be showing it on the outside, he’s on the verge of giving up on life altogether, the void he feels mirrored by a leaking hole in his flat’s ceiling that grows bigger and darker every day, as a constant reminder of his predicament.

Festivals Reviews

DUMB MONEY (TIFF 2023) – Review by Rachel West

September 11, 2023September 11, 2023 Rachel West america ferrera, Anthony Ramos, craig gillespie, Dumb Money, GameStop, Lauren Schuker Blum, Nick Offerman, paul dano, Rebecca Angelo, Sebastian Stan, Seth Rogen, Shailene Woodley, Talia Ryder, TIFF 2023, Vincent D'Onofrio

The year is 2020. Confined to the insides of their homes and glued to the internet for lack of anything better to do during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, one YouTube live streamer and an army of Reddit investors pushed hedge fund billionaires to the brink in the infamous GameStop Wall Street scandal. Less than three years after the real-life event, director Craig Gillespie and writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo bring Dumb Money, the true story of the scandal that pitted average armchair investors – so-called “dumb money” — against hedge fund managers through a grassroots investing movement.

Reviews

SHARPER – Review by Susan Granger

March 13, 2023March 14, 2023 Susan Granger Alessandro Tanaka, Apple TV+, Benjamin Caron, Brian Gatewood, Briana Middleton, julianne moore, Sebastian Stan, Sharper

There are grifters galore in Benjamin Caron’s psychological thriller Sharper that opens with what appears to be a innocent love story, set inside a small Greenwich Village bookstore. That’s where NYU grad student Sandra (Briana Middleton) meets Tom (Justice Smith), the nerdy proprietor. She’s searching for a copy of Zora Neal Huston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. They ‘click’ and move on to a little Japanese restaurant on Mott Street for canoodling over dinner.

Reviews

SHARPER – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 Valerie Kalfrin Alessandro Tanaka, Apple TV+, Benjamin Caron, Brian Gatewood, Briana Middleton, julianne moore, Sebastian Stan, Sharper

The word sharper is another term for a cheating gambler—or “one who lives by their wits,” as the crime thriller Sharper says among its opening titles. Unfortunately, Sharper is dull and predictable, with a plodding pace, little suspense, and twists that anyone who loves heist films will identify well in advance.
Streaming on Apple TV+, Sharper has a fractured narrative, following four key characters at alternate points in the story. This type of structure can produce surprising reveals, but the script by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka (both of Superstore, and also producers) isn’t engaging enough in these portions to override impatience. Those looking for a twisty crime tale will consider Sharper a cheat.

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