Jeff Nelson

‘The Bride!’ Movie Review: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Monster Mash-Up Is Alive, Angry, and Unevenly Stitched Together - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of “The Lost Daughter” felt deeply personal and intrinsically rich in its taboo approach to motherhood and the desperate search for identity. “The Bride!” is her sophomo...

#TheBrideMovie: We’ve never seen The Bride like this, and it’s the kind of brazen swing that Hollywood needs more of. Unfortunately, strong messaging and themes lose their impact behind a mess of too many generic subplots. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/the-bride-mo...

Here comes #TheBrideMovie. Review coming soon!

“Symbolic power is a power of constructing reality.” - Pierre Bourdieu

The world just keeps getting bleaker and bleaker.

For this morning’s screening, I’m getting lost in #Exit8.

‘Wuthering Heights’ Movie Review: Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s Feverish Chemistry Ignites a Provocative Reimagining - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events As of 2026, Emily Brontë’s literary classic “Wuthering Heights” has seen over 30 screen adaptations across feature films and miniseries — so does the world really need another? Writer-director Emerald...

Emerald Fennell’s #WutheringHeightsMovie is a treacherous seesaw power struggle seeped in sensationalized romantic smoldering with seduction. It’s less of a swoon-worthy romance and more of a love-obsessed psychological tragedy. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/wuthering-he...

‘Pillion’ Movie Review: Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling Illuminate a Queer, Kink-Driven Narrative - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events Public opinion is like a pendulum when it comes to sex in film, but the entire point of art is to capture the magnitude of human experiences, and intimacy is an innate part of them. “Pillion” is Harry...

#Pillion: The film’s unapologetic, nonjudgmental approach to the world of gay kink-forward relationships is admirable. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/pillion-movi...

#WutheringHeightsMovie is a sumptuous feast for the romantic in us all. Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s chemistry is divine. It’s a little long and patchy, but it’s easy to get caught in its web. Anthony Willis’s score & Charli XCX’s songs are major. Stunning cinematography.

This morning’s screening is #WutheringHeights.

‘Return to Silent Hill’ Movie Review: Christophe Gans Returns to the Fog with Little to Show for It - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events “Return to Silent Hill” might imply it’s a sequel, which isn’t entirely wrong. It’s an adaptation of the classic survival horror video game “Silent Hill 2.”

#ReturnToSilentHill: Instead of getting lost in this psychological labyrinth, its lack of impact lands with an unfortunately hollow thud. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/return-to-si...

How did REDUX REDUX start with such an awesome festival poster, yet end up with the most boring and generic poster imaginable? Really dug the movie, though, and you should absolutely see it when it comes out in February.

Film Critic Jeff Nelson Counts Down the 10 Best Movies of 2025 - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events Movies are more than escapism. They’re an artistic opportunity to enrich our lives by seeing the world, or a different one entirely, through another perspective in a way no other medium can achieve. R...

I’m counting down my top 10 movies of 2025 (plus 10 more special mentions) over at @wehotimes.bsky.social. Had to make some tough cuts, but I’m happy with where I landed.
wehotimes.com/film-critic-...

‘The Plague’ Movie Review: Charlie Polinger’s Contagious Debut Exposes the Rot Beneath Masculine Youth - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events There are few things more terrifying for a preteen than social pressures and the anxiety of trying to fit in with a group of kids who are too young to know who they are. “The Plague” is more of a dram...

#ThePlague is more of a dramatic thriller than an outright horror film, but it’s a suffocating experience that blurs the line between them. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/the-plague-m...

‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ Movie Review: Amanda Seyfried Soars in a Stylized, Hollow Look at Faith, Trauma, and Celibacy - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events Mona Fastvold’s festival darling, “The Testament of Ann Lee,” is as much about the religious fervor behind the Shaker movement as it is about what it means to commit one’s body to purpose. Unfortunate...

#TheTestamentOfAnnLee: The egregious use of narration strips the story of dramatic revelations, refusing to interrogate Ann’s spirituality, intention, or her hypocrisies. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/the-testamen...

‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Movie Review – James Cameron’s Spectacle Still Reigns as Narrative Evolution Stalls - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” feels more like a half-sequel to “The Way of Water” than a true third installment. He split the last screenplay into two, and its recycled plot beats and charact...

#AvatarFireAndAsh: Spectacle continues to operate on an unparalleled level, but the growing franchise should allow the narrative to evolve. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/avatar-fire-...

‘Is This Thing On?’ Movie Review: Bradley Cooper’s Uneven Look at Love Through Open-Mic Therapy - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events Bradley Cooper made an impressive directorial debut with his reimagining of “A Star Is Born,” but the lousy biopic “Maestro” called his artistic instincts into question. “Is This Thing On?” marks the ...

#IsThisThingOn is a humble dramedy with an authentic heart wrapped in an unremarkable casing. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/is-this-thin...

I officially started a complete ALIEN novel franchise read through of “top-tier canon,” in timeline chronological order. I’ve been itching to do this for a long time.

Film Critic Jeff Nelson Counts Down the 10 Best Movies of 2025 - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events Movies are more than escapism. They’re an artistic opportunity to enrich our lives by seeing the world, or a different one entirely, through another perspective in a way no other medium can achieve. R...

I’m counting down my top 10 movies of 2025 (plus 10 more special mentions) over at @wehotimes.bsky.social. Had to make some tough cuts, but I’m happy with where I landed.
wehotimes.com/film-critic-...

Catching up on a few final 2025 movies today/tomorrow. My top 10 of the year coming to WeHo Times very soon. Stay tuned!

Maybe I’m crazy, but “What It Sounds Like” from #KPopDemonHunters deserves just as much awards attention as “Golden.” I get that the latter is more popular, but the former also really captures the whole film in a nutshell. Still stuck in my head.

‘No Other Choice’ Movie Review: Park Chan-wook Crafts a Sharp, Savage Satire of Capitalism - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events Park Chan-wook is a master of lacing drama with wicked, dark humor, and that’s evident in “No Other Choice” — a film about capitalism and the disparity between the number of high-skill jobs and the po...

#NoOtherChoice dismantles the modern job market’s obsolescence of qualified workers, using black comedy as a coping mechanism to deal with the desperation and quiet humiliation of forced economic displacement. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/no-other-cho...

‘Marty Supreme’ Movie Review: A Nerve-Shredding Sports Odyssey Supercharged by Timothée Chalamet - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events Josh and Benny Safdie (aka the Safdie brothers) stunned the world with “Uncut Gems,” which set a new bar for pressure-cooker movies. It has become the overused comparison for the top echelon of stress...

#MartySupreme is a cinematic strike of lightning that leaves your nerves fried in what is undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social:
wehotimes.com/marty-suprem...

#Avatar/#AvatarFireAndAsh is the same movie again & the characters keep going through the same arcs without learning anything. James Cameron’s 3D visual stunner sets a new standard for world-building splendor yet again, but the storytelling desperately needs to evolve from here.

#Avatar/#AvatarFireAndAsh is the same movie again & the characters keep going through the same arcs without learning anything. James Cameron’s 3D visual stunner sets a new standard for world-building splendor yet again, but the storytelling desperately needs to evolve from here.

Starting December off with #Avatar/#AvatarFireAndAsh on the lot!

‘Man Finds Tape’ Movie Review: Mockumentary and Found Footage Clash in Uneven Horror Hybrid - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events The combination of mockumentary and found-footage formats contradicts itself, caught in the unfortunate conundrum of whether to draw amateurish realism from a nontraditional format or to document disc...

#ManFindsTape gets off to a terrifying start, but what follows somehow overplays its hand while simultaneously underexplaining its lore. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/man-finds-ta...

‘Hamnet’ Movie Review: Jessie Buckley Astounds in a Delicate Elegy of Tragedy - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events Writer-director Chloé Zhao shifts away from the sweeping landscapes of “Nomadland” and “Eternals” to the theatrical intimacy of “Hamnet.” This tale of grief portrays devastation on a monumental level,...

Don’t mistake #Hamnet for another Shakespearean tale…this is ultimately a film about how humanity confronts the worst imaginable grief, from which there is no return. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/hamnet-movie...

‘The Secret Agent’ Movie Review: A Fractured Reflection on Resistance and Repression - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events Told within the framework of Brazilian history, “The Secret Agent” is a fictional tale filled with violence, corruption, and the pursuit of a better life. Writer-director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s overs...

Just as #TheSecretAgent reaches its most gripping realizations, it’s over. Too much of what comes before feels like it’s simply moving through the motions, not entirely connecting into a cohesive whole. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/the-secret-a...

‘Rental Family’ Movie Review: A Morally Knotty Redemption Tale Coated in Sugar - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events Can the lies we tell and perform lead to happiness, or do they only create false realities in which someone is bound to get hurt? That is the question behind Hikari’s “Rental Family”: a morally knotty...

The morals behind #RentalFamily aren’t so easy to unpack, and it’s in this complexity that Hikari finds a story truly worth telling. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/rental-famil...

It brings me no joy to say that ALPHA is immensely frustrating. I’m a huge fan of TITANE, but this feeling-packed AIDS allegory never comes to a head. Great performances emerge from a movie that shows an offensively beautiful, stylized glamorization of decay from AIDS. No.

‘Wicked: For Good’ Movie Review: Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Soar, as Oz Stays Drab - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events “Wicked” fans understandably questioned why Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation would split the hit musical into two parts, released a year apart, despite being shot back-to-back. After all, the second half ...

#WickedForGood is ultimately weighed down by its tendency to gloss over crucial dramatic moments and the consequences they’re meant to carry, favoring eye-roll-inducing fan service over lucid storytelling. My review via @wehotimes.bsky.social: wehotimes.com/wicked-for-g...