David Rooney
Chief Film Critic at The Hollywood Reporter, plus theater when time permits. Member of @NYFCC.bsky.social and @NSFC.bsky.social
hollywoodreporter.com/author/david-rooney/
- Good to see Gore Verbinski back with his customary verve & a fun cast led by Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson and Juno Temple. That makes the AI apocalypse sci-fi-comedy GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE entertaining even if it could have used sharper teeth. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Is there a more beautiful father-son scene in a recent movie than this one from THE SECRET AGENT, played with enormous heart by Wagner Moura and Enzo Nunes? This kid is an absolute natural and one of many reasons the film deserves to be the first Oscar winner for best casting.
- Ozempic? Wegovy? Natalie Ericka James' entertaining but messy SACCHARINE maintains that consuming cremated human ashes will get those pounds off faster, albeit with the bother of a hangry ghost coming after you. #Sundance2026. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- A deserving Grand Jury Prize winner at #Sundance2026, NUISANCE BEAR is one part nature doc and two parts haunting ethnographic study, about polar bears and the Indigenous people who have co-existed with them for 4,000 years in the Canadian Arctic. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- The simplest throwaway line in HEARTBURN made me adore Catherine O’Hara, when she skips out to the supermarket carpark after getting some juicy fabricated gossip from Meryl Streep. The attendant tells her to have a nice day, and she chirps back, “You KNOW I will!” Comedy genius. 💔
- With #SundanceFilmFestival wrapping up for the last time in Park City, THR's critics pick 15 standouts from the "Farewell, Utah" edition, some of which we'll hopefully still be talking about a year from now. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Kingsley Ben-Adir and Rob Morgan bring transcendent grace to FRANK & LOUIS, a sensitively observed drama that skips the usual prison movie clichés in favor of dignity, compassion and the reciprocal rewards of caregiver work. #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Will Poulter and Noah Centineo, both terrific, embed with real-life recovering addicts in a rural Ohio court program in Adam Meeks' docu-drama UNION COUNTY, which is low-key to a fault but bristles with authenticity. #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- A deadly mutating fungus risks getting out into the world if Joe Keery, Georgina Campbell & Liam Neeson don't stop it in COLD STORAGE, an endearingly silly sci-fi horror comedy with a goofy retro vibe and a game cast. Yes, January is put-out-the trash time! www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Got a huge kick out of Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff’s genuinely stirring biographical doc about the great Billie Jean King, GIVE ME THE BALL! You couldn’t ask for a more engaging, funny, down-to-earth subject. Another highlight of #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Rumors that I bounced around screeching along to "Olympia" while playing my Hole CDs to death in the '90s are unconfirmed. Still, I was a captive audience for ANTIHEROINE, celebrating the fearless, fierce rock queen Courtney Love. #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Loved Noah Segan's fine-grained crime thriller THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK, with John Turturro in mesmerizing form as an honorable thief who steals from the wrong creep. A #Sundance2026 standout — contemplative, melancholy, beautiful. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Cooper Raiff shines as a humorist reeling from loss in SEE YOU WHEN I SEE YOU, Jay Duplass' film of standup comic Adam Cayton-Holland's memoir. But the unquestionable sincerity is undermined by cloying funny-sad indie grief drama preciousness. #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Depression-era Americana with a Western flavor is my kind of period piece. But despite strong work from Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones and a live-wire Austin Amelio, THE WEIGHT is a high-stakes drama that seldom summons much power. #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Writing is an act of resistance for the subject of KNIFE: THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF SALMAN RUSHDIE, Alex Gibney's rivetingly intimate account of the near-fatal attack on the 'Satanic Verses' author and his year of recovery and reflection. #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Director Olivia Wilde stars with Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton in THE INVITE, a scabrously funny marital comedy-drama that teases, eviscerates and maybe even heals. Polished and entertaining, confirms Wilde as the real deal. #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Scaling way down after the cloying misstep of A BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY, Kogonada attempts a return to the elegant poetry of his debut, COLUMBUS, with ZI, an elliptical microbudget Hong Kong experiment that sadly is too wispy to resonate. #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- With a debt to 'Barney,' Casper Kelly swaps a purple dinosaur for a homicidal orange plush unicorn (drolly voiced by MVP Keegan-Michael Key) in BUDDY, a subversive horror satire of kids' educational TV that could use sharper teeth. #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Bless Gregg Araki for bringing sexy back (along with mischievous fun) to #Sundance2026 in I WANT YOUR SEX. Olivia Wilde & Cooper Hoffman are spectacular together and that ensemble (Charlie xcx, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs) is perfection. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Good to see a psychological drama about a kind of brutal childhood trauma not previously depicted in countless movies. Beth de Araújo’s JOSEPHINE, with Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan, has parental issues, but it’s riveting nonetheless. #Sundance2016 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Rachel Lambert's melancholy romantic drama CAROUSEL isn't perfect, but it's easy to look past the flaws with performances as beautiful and deeply felt as those of Chris Pine, Jenny Slate and Abby Ryder Fortson. #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Domhnall Gleeson brings much-needed humor and poignancy to THE INCOMER, an otherwise abrasive comedy of the absurd set on a remote Scottish island sinking under the weight of quaintness and quirks. #Sundance2026 www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Lots to celebrate with the Oscar noms but nothing comes close to the joy of seeing THE SECRET AGENT land in 4 categories, including a richly deserved best actor spot for Wagner Moura and the wonderful surprise of casting, which is the movie's secret weapon. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Director Joe Carnahan puts his genre skills to solid use in Netflix's twisty cop thriller THE RIP, with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck leading a starry cast that includes Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Catalina Sandino Moreno and Kyle Chandler. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- I'll review Baz Luhrmann's EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT closer to its late Feb. release. For now I'll just say this sets the bar high as the biggest blast I've had at a new movie in 2026. Exhilarating stuff, and I've never even been a major Elvis fan.
- Cult fanaticism is a nastier menace than the flesh-eating “infected” in 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE, Nia DaCosta’s entry in Danny Boyle & Alex Garland’s Rage Virus series. But the main event is Ralph Fiennes turning it up to 11 and going full metal. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Brazilian cinema is on a roll with THE SECRET AGENT and I'M STILL HERE, which ought to nudge @dekanalog.bsky.social on the U.S. release of Gabriel Mascaro's THE BLUE TRAIL, an intoxicating Amazonian eco-fable that drolly skewers ageism and authoritarianism. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- A quick take for today's THR Weekend Newsletter on which films I would choose for the top two awards at tomorrow night's Golden Globes, and why. Neither will be a surprise to anyone who saw my 2025 Top 10.
- Director Johannes Roberts is not monkeying around in PRIMATE, a rabid chimp slasher movie that keeps the carnage coming. A blast of bloody dumb fun in Hawaii for wintry January, in theaters today. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- January is often a dumpster for lesser releases, but DEAD MAN’S WIRE, opening Friday, is a crackling thriller that pays homage to DOG DAY AFTERNOON, with director Gus Van Sant in top form. Great stuff, led by a never-better Bill Skarsgard. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
- Always a pleasure to huddle over @nsfc.bsky.social awards voting. Delighted with our wins for ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, THE SECRET AGENT & surprise lead acting choices Ethan Hawke in BLUE MOON & Kathleen Chalfant in FAMILIAR TOUCH.
- Starting off the year with a glorious encounter between two Brazilian screen queens: Fernanda Montenegro, the unforgettable star of CENTRAL STATION, meets Kleber Mendonça Filho discovery Tânia Maria, a pistol in THE SECRET AGENT as Dona Sebastiana. Love this so much.
- Not a fan of "Worst of the Year" movie lists, because in all likelihood, I've been spared the crappiest releases. But it wasn't hard coming up with two particularly soul-crushing bummers for this THR roundup. Any guesses which ones? www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/bigges...
