Daniel Cruse

‘One Battle After Another’ Review: Paul Thomas Anderson’s Raw, Revolutionary Epic Is A Decade-Defining Masterpiece - LEO Weekly | Louisville Eccentric Observer Paul Thomas Anderson hands you a live wire and hits the ground running with his latest film.  The current flows throughout One Battle After Another, never finding a weak point in all of its nearly thr...

My review of One Battle After Another for LEO Weekly:

www.leoweekly.com/arts/film-an...

‘HIM’ Review: This Hollow Sports Horror Movie Fumbles The Ball When It Matters Most - LEO Weekly | Louisville Eccentric Observer We have plenty of sports dramas; we have sports comedies, why not a sports horror movie? It sounds like a great pitch: a movie that excises the strange rituals surrounding the world of sports and make...

My review of HIM for LEO Weekly

www.leoweekly.com/arts/film-an...

‘The Long Walk’ Review: David Jonsson Tears At Your Heartstrings In This Harrowing Stephen King Adaptation - LEO Weekly | Louisville Eccentric Observer The Long Walk (2025) from Lionsgate adapts Stephen King’s harrowing dystopian novel into a brutal, politically charged thriller. Directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Cooper Hoffman and David Jons...

My review of ‘The Long Walk’ for LEO Weekly

www.leoweekly.com/arts/the-lon...

When Political Violence Matters On Palestine, school shootings, Melissa Hortman, and Charlie Kirk

open.substack.com/pub/danielcr...

When Are the Curtains Just Blue? The art of making subtext where there is none while ignoring the text itself

My latest Substack: on Kubrick and Room 237 and how we miss what matters when we look at art under a microscrope.

open.substack.com/pub/danielcr...

‘The Toxic Avenger’ Review: This Troma Reboot Has Heart, But No Guts - LEO Weekly | Louisville Eccentric Observer Peter Dinklage stars in The Toxic Avenger (2025), a long-delayed Troma reboot that aims for gore, comedy, and satire—but delivers more heart than guts. Read our full review.

My review of The Toxic Avenger for LEO Weekly - Not gross enough!

www.leoweekly.com/arts/the-tox...

‘Honey Don’t!’ Review: Ethan Coen Keeps The Spirit Of The Coen Brothers Alive In This Sharp, Sexy Detective Story Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke return with Honey Don’t!, a stylish neo-noir comedy starring Margaret Qualley and Chris Evans. Fast, witty, and chaotic, the film delivers a pulpy detective story with shar...

Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke have made two fun movies that I enjoyed watching. My review of ‘Honey Don’t!’ for LEO WEEKLY:

www.leoweekly.com/arts/honey-d...

'No Country For Old Men,' the Artifice of the Western Hero, and the Good Ole' Days That Never Were "I couldn't swear to every detail but it's certainly true that it is a story."

It was cathartic to see so many shared my feelings about content-mills, and it reminded me why I was drawn to write in the first place. So I want to share a new piece on my Substack that is exactly the kind of thing I would not have been able to do there.

open.substack.com/pub/danielcr...

‘Highest 2 Lowest’ Review: Denzel Washington and ASAP Rocky Face Off In Spike Lee’s Electrifying, Messy Return To New York City Spike Lee returns to New York with Highest 2 Lowest, a stylish but uneven reimagining of Kurosawa’s High and Low, starring Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, and a breakout turn from ASAP Rocky.

In non-soul-crushing-Valnet-news, I am doing freelance work with a local publication and really enjoying it! You can check out my LEO Weekly reviews here, including ‘Highest 2 Lowest,’ which I unfortunately really struggled with. Will love Spike forever though.

www.leoweekly.com/arts/highest...

The Things I Thought and Did Not Say While Writing For a Content-Mill In 1996, Jerry Maguire was laughed out of his office for publishing a company-wide memo encouraging his industry to take a more human approach.

Kinda forgot Bluesky existed but this does seem like a good time to remember there are a lot of great writers here. If you feel like you can relate to my experience, I want to connect!

danielcruse.substack.com/p/the-things...

Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for the shout! I wrote this early this morning and did not expect it to get such a response. But so many have reached out with similar experiences.

I barely use this platform and didn’t think to share here, but I’m really touched that so many are sharing my thoughts.

This Mission: Impossible Scene Proves Why Ethan Hunt is the Greatest Action Hero "I am the storm."

I wrote about the morality of Mission: Impossible, and why Ethan Hunt is our greatest action hero.

My latest for Collider:

collider.com/mission-impo...

‘The Hurt Locker’ Capri Sun scene underlines what the movie is really about: you have to Respect the Pouch

Hey liberals