It’s been a while since a film generated as much pre-release speculation as the Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, but Andrew Dominik is just that kind of filmmaker. Now that some have actually seen the film (in theaters now and hitting Netflix on September 28), the conversation is only getting more complex. All seem to agree Ana de Armas gives an amazing performance, but finding any other consensus on the adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ portrait of Monroe is proving thornier. Reactions run the gamut from Lucy’s: “Not only is Blonde just as exploitative as the men it condemns, it’s also not very good” to James’s “It’s completely pretentious and I loved every second of it.”

Oscar-winner Viola Davis leads a heavyweight cast in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King, which tells the story of the all-female military regiment, Agojie, charged with protecting the embattled West African kingdom of Dahomey in the early nineteenth century. “So powerful. So beautiful. SO BADASS,” raves MJ. “Just an absolute fastball down the middle” says Blank Check podcast co-host David Sims. (Now in theaters.) Co-star John Boyega is also currently on screens in hostage drama Breaking, about which he chatted with Adesola Thomas for Journal.

After making throwback slasher X in New Zealand during the pandemic, filmmaker Ti West took advantage of the resources at his disposal and immediately filmed a prequel, Pearl, starring Mia Goth, who reprises one of her two roles from X. People seem to like it. “As much a smart piece of scene-setting cinema as it is a silly, gory slasher movie,” writes Douglas Greenwood. “Finally, the origin story for the grandma’s horniness,” Blazbad enthuses. And why quit when you’re ahead? At TIFF, West dropped a teaser for a third installment, MaXXXine, which will be set in the 1980s. (Pearl is now in theaters.)

They’ve been threatening to make a third Fletch movie for so long. At one point it was going to star Jason Lee and be directed by Kevin Smith. Zach Braff was attached to another iteration. Confess, Fletch, the newest entry in a series that includes a beloved ’80s classic and a not-so-beloved sequel, is a notable development in the matter of ‘What is going on with Jon Hamm’s career post-Mad Men?’ He is well-cast in Chevy Chase’s footsteps as the wise-cracking investigative reporter, and gets to play opposite his former Mad Men co-star John Slattery, which is pretty cool. Speaking of people who should be bigger stars, Lorenza Izzo—who deserves to be every bit as much of a star as her Knock Knock co-lead Ana de Armas—plays Fletch’s Italian girlfriend. (Now in select theaters and on VOD.)

What will the eventual box office be for Olivia Wilde’s new feature, Don’t Worry Darling, and will it be enough to mop up all the tea spilled in the lead-up to the film’s release? We’ve been here before (some of us remember the Meg Ryan/Russell Crowe thriller Proof of Life, which was similarly overshadowed by off-screen drama, albeit without the additional beasts that are social media and weaponized fandom). If you can put that aside on your way into the cinema, here’s a tip from Matt: it helps to be into dystopian psychological fiction. (In theaters September 23.)

In what is proving to be a banner year for gay rom-coms, Billy Eichner follows in the footsteps of Fire Island with Bros, a Judd Apatow-produced effort directed by Nicholas Stoller (who, in addition to directing Forgetting Sarah Marshall, created the Eichner-starring Netflix series Friends from College). Eichner plays Bobby, a podcaster attempting a long-term relationship with Aaron (Hallmark rom-com stalwart Luke Macfarlane—a nod to the channels that first took the genre gay). Letterboxd bestie Bowen Yang (also in Fire Island) co-stars in the queer talent-heavy film. (In theaters September 30.)

In the Bedroom and Little Children director Todd Field releases only his third feature with TÁR, in which Cate Blanchett plays a famed orchestra conductor facing personal and professional challenges. Reaction out of Venice was pretty rapturous. Robert describes Blanchett as being “in full control of her acting abilities” in what’s “a slowly deteriorating character piece first and an uncompromising societal critique second”. “Just an astonishing movie from top to bottom,” writes Nando Villa. (In theaters October 7.)

Earning Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund his second Palme d’Or (his first was for The Square), Triangle of Sadness continues his trademark exploration of class and cringe. “Watching rich people make tits of themselves is always fun but Östlund always gives you more,” writes Dion Wynn. “Parasite on a boat with a drunk, Marxist Woody Harrelson. What’s not to love?” Persia asks. (In theaters October 7.)

A conversation with multi-hyphenate storyteller Lena Dunham about her love of Letterboxd, her recent sex fable Sharp Stick and her new teen adventure, Catherine Called Birdy, is one of the recently published highlights on Journal, our online magazine. (Catherine Called Birdy, which premiered at TIFF, has a limited US theatrical release this month before streaming on Prime Video from October 7.)

Other Journal highlights from our writing crew in the past month include our editor-in-chief Gemma Gracewood’s interview with TIFF programmers Cameron Bailey and Robyn Citizen, during which Rian Johnson stopped by for a tease of Glass Onion, his newest Benoit Blanc murder mystery. Our Indigenous editor Leo Koziol met The Legend of Molly Johnson writer/​director/​star Leah Purcell to talk about revisionist Westerns and coming to directing later in life.

We’ve got a Life in Film interview with Funny Pages filmmaker Owen Kline (son of Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates; the little brother in The Squid and the Whale), who grew up to be a cartoonist and a director. And we have a juicy essay from Charles Bramesco looking at what happens when Hollywood turns its storytelling lens on the other LA film industry: adult filmmaking. Charles surveys several decades’ worth of thrillers, comedies and dramas set in the X-rated moviemaking world and talks to several adult stars about which ones get it right.

Letterboxd’s in-house animation expert Kambole Campbell spoke to the director of Inu-oh, Masaaki Yuasa, about his unique new film, the latest in a career marked by breaking with animation tradition. They chatted about medieval gender fluidity and playing a biwa behind your head—we highly recommend Inu-oh as the perfect double feature with Brett Morgen’s new Bowie doc experience, Moonage Daydream.

Some actors are simply irrefutable. Ed Harris is one of them. Harris superfan Mitchell Beaupre recently spoke to the actor to mark the release of his new film Get Away If You Can. They also delved into the legendary actor’s performances in The Lost Daughter, Letterboxd fave The Truman Show, Alex Cox’s Walker and Harris’s own Pollock. Beaupre’s passion for the actor really shines through in the chat. Be sure to check out Ed at his most vulnerable in the underrated gem China Moon if you’ve never seen it.

John Patton Ford’s excellent sun-drenched noir Emily the Criminal uses Los Angeles locations in a creative and dynamic manner, so we asked Ford to put together a list of fifteen LA Movies That Bang, featuring notes from the director on each entry.

Scary movies aren’t scary to everyone, but every horror film is terrifying to somebody, as revealed in this list from Clemmie compiled from responses to a prompt. The list includes plenty of great horror titles, perfect as a starting point for Shocktober watching. Also check out this solid, introductory Horror Must-Sees list, or if those aren’t extreme enough for you, move on to IndieWire’s 35 Disturbing Foreign Films to Watch. Or, for more random terror, check out CharmingPotato’s list of Movies that inexplicably freaked them out as a child. And while you’re in a pre-Hallowe’en state of mind, get onto Hooptober Neun!

TheRiverJordan’s series of Where to Begin lists is relentlessly helpful for burgeoning cinephiles. The latest one provides an excellent starting point for anyone wanting to delve into the French New Wave during this extended period of mourning for pioneering, hard-working and long-living French-Swiss filmmaking great, Jean-Luc Godard.

A few months ago we learned about Sigma males. Turns out, there is a female equivalent. Check out kendallwalsh’s list Sigma but women.

It’s time for Dom’s Pick! Each month, Call Sheet editor Dominic Corry ends with a recommendation for your watchlists. This month: Dark of the Sun. Also known as The Mercenaries, this brutal Congo-set action-thriller is full of surprises, not least of which is the ultimate focus on the bromantic tension between gruff leads Rod Taylor (a favorite of Tarantino’s) and a rarely better Jim Brown. The climactic chainsaw fight actually lives up to the dramatic poster art. Very much of its time, but well worth a watch.