Been curious to see this since it released, and yeah, it's the kind of thing I wanna like more than I actually do. Granted, if it actually managed to pull off everything it's trying to do, it would be a miracle. Still a welcome voice in the world of U.S. immigration films and urban workforce stories. Plus, it's got Tilda Swinton, continuing to prove that she can find nuance in even the basest of caricatures.

What was up with this movie? Can someone explain the music choices? The camera work? The absolute refusal to give us a character arc until, debatably, the last 5 minutes of a 2.5-hour film? All of the excitement I felt in the directorial choices of this thing crumbled over that runtime as I realized that none of this was going to pay off. A memorable movie, to be sure, full of top notch filmmaking and fresh choices, but it was all in service of...what exactly? Unless I find some enlightenment eventually, I would only ever put this on again to hate-watch it.

I completely missed this when it dropped, and apparently I'm not the only one. That Michael Shannon & Matthew Macfadyen are getting completely snubbed from awards season this year, not to mention the supporting cast, seems tragic. I didn't know anything about this going in, which is partly by design given much of what occurs in this limited series is pulled from a history book documenting a largely forgotten man and the promise of his presidency cut short. Apparently, President Garfield's great-great-grandson, 73-year-old Tim Garfield, has seen a surge in interest this past year of the historical tourist spots he holds down in Ohio. That the script's historical inaccuracies are mostly small peripheral indulgences for the sake of the form & its ultimate truths seems a great credit to Death by Lightning. I really dug this one, and also - if you like Nick Offerman, his turn as Chester A. Arthur, epic muttonchops & all, is essential viewing.

Trying to watch all the Oscar nominated movies in the next couple of months. This was WILD.

This sequel was a swing and a miss. It was like watching the middle of a movie. It seemed to pick up right where the last one left off, without any intro at all. Then took a left turn diving into weird storylines that only provided stomach turning gore for extended periods, then ended oddly leaving no resolution nor any curiosity for what might come next. As oddly as it ended, it was a welcome end.

2025 was awesome, ready to create even more in 2026.