Hoai-Tran Bui
@htranbui.bsky.social
Finally here!!!! Inverse entertainment editor. Critic.
I voted early for Zohran and they gave me an extra Halloween sticker as a treat
November 1, 2025 at 5:51 PM
I voted early for Zohran and they gave me an extra Halloween sticker as a treat
I chatted with BUGONIA writer Will Tracy about the movie's wild twist, the differences between this film and the Korean original, and what its ending means in this day and age: www.inverse.com/entertainmen...
October 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I chatted with BUGONIA writer Will Tracy about the movie's wild twist, the differences between this film and the Korean original, and what its ending means in this day and age: www.inverse.com/entertainmen...
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT: I chuckled at the WAITING FOR GODOT name-drop. A darkly comic morality play that balances on the razor's edge, while earnestly exploring cycles of violence done to us, and done to each other. So glad I got to see this with Panahi in attendance
October 10, 2025 at 6:25 PM
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT: I chuckled at the WAITING FOR GODOT name-drop. A darkly comic morality play that balances on the razor's edge, while earnestly exploring cycles of violence done to us, and done to each other. So glad I got to see this with Panahi in attendance
MARTY SUPREME: yeah Josh took all that wild Safdie energy with him. To call this a sports movie isn’t enough, this is a manic, madcap odyssey that is as exhilarating as it’s exhausting. Timothee’s star power is so bright & undeniable that it’s basically a supernova. LOVED it
October 7, 2025 at 3:57 AM
MARTY SUPREME: yeah Josh took all that wild Safdie energy with him. To call this a sports movie isn’t enough, this is a manic, madcap odyssey that is as exhilarating as it’s exhausting. Timothee’s star power is so bright & undeniable that it’s basically a supernova. LOVED it
SENTIMENTAL VALUE: floored by this one. Joachim Trier condenses generations of family pain into a lovely and bitterly funny ode to film and how art can connect us or drive us away. Renata and Stellan are sublime. I liked this even more than WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD!
September 30, 2025 at 8:43 PM
SENTIMENTAL VALUE: floored by this one. Joachim Trier condenses generations of family pain into a lovely and bitterly funny ode to film and how art can connect us or drive us away. Renata and Stellan are sublime. I liked this even more than WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD!
DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE: saw this with a hardcore Springsteen fan and beforehand he worried this wouldn’t provide any new insights. Sadly, that’s very much the case. Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong are terrific but the film is a frustratingly literal kind of biopic
September 30, 2025 at 4:47 PM
DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE: saw this with a hardcore Springsteen fan and beforehand he worried this wouldn’t provide any new insights. Sadly, that’s very much the case. Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong are terrific but the film is a frustratingly literal kind of biopic
HOUSE OF DYNAMITE: Kathryn Bigelow crafts an exercise in relentless tension that’s more immersive than insightful. But goddamn does it set you on the edge. Rebecca Ferguson was the standout performance for me, really sells the stoic despair in the face of certain doom
September 26, 2025 at 1:17 AM
HOUSE OF DYNAMITE: Kathryn Bigelow crafts an exercise in relentless tension that’s more immersive than insightful. But goddamn does it set you on the edge. Rebecca Ferguson was the standout performance for me, really sells the stoic despair in the face of certain doom
BLUE MOON: Oh yeah, this is the kind of talky showmanship that I love from Linklater. A chamber piece with never an empty moment thanks to a tremendous Ethan Hawke, who walks the delicate line between buffoonish and tragic
September 25, 2025 at 4:11 PM
BLUE MOON: Oh yeah, this is the kind of talky showmanship that I love from Linklater. A chamber piece with never an empty moment thanks to a tremendous Ethan Hawke, who walks the delicate line between buffoonish and tragic
SCARLET: I didn’t realize how much of this was going to be HAMLET. I’m trying not to judge too much by my love for his earlier works but Mamoru Hosoda is moving towards a kind of maximalism I just haven’t been vibing with. Lots of breathtaking moments tho
September 24, 2025 at 1:23 AM
SCARLET: I didn’t realize how much of this was going to be HAMLET. I’m trying not to judge too much by my love for his earlier works but Mamoru Hosoda is moving towards a kind of maximalism I just haven’t been vibing with. Lots of breathtaking moments tho
NOUVELLE VAGUE: I’m of two minds on this one! It only really came alive for me when Linklater was in his hangout movie bag, which bumped up against the fawning reverence he has for the era. Wish it was as a fraction as bold as the movies it was homaging
September 24, 2025 at 1:22 AM
NOUVELLE VAGUE: I’m of two minds on this one! It only really came alive for me when Linklater was in his hangout movie bag, which bumped up against the fawning reverence he has for the era. Wish it was as a fraction as bold as the movies it was homaging
THE MASTERMIND: Josh O’Connor has never been more pathetic, or more magnetic, than in Kelly Reichardt’s lovely, subdued heist movie-turned-drifter odyssey. A throwback to meandering ‘70s neo-noirs in a really satisfying way
September 24, 2025 at 1:21 AM
THE MASTERMIND: Josh O’Connor has never been more pathetic, or more magnetic, than in Kelly Reichardt’s lovely, subdued heist movie-turned-drifter odyssey. A throwback to meandering ‘70s neo-noirs in a really satisfying way
SIRAT: quite literally blown away by this one. A desert-set odyssey that unfolds into one of the tensest set pieces this year. Some real devastating turns. The collective stomach drop when my audience realized where it was going…
September 19, 2025 at 2:15 AM
SIRAT: quite literally blown away by this one. A desert-set odyssey that unfolds into one of the tensest set pieces this year. Some real devastating turns. The collective stomach drop when my audience realized where it was going…
THE SECRET AGENT: Wagner Moura is terrific in an electrifying political thriller that defies its genre trappings. Much warmer and full of life than you might expect. Liked this one a lot!
September 19, 2025 at 2:14 AM
THE SECRET AGENT: Wagner Moura is terrific in an electrifying political thriller that defies its genre trappings. Much warmer and full of life than you might expect. Liked this one a lot!
LATE FAME: Too lightweight a New York art drama to give much thought to. Greta is fabulous and Willem never phones it in but, to borrow a term from Gen Zers, it’s just unserious
September 19, 2025 at 2:14 AM
LATE FAME: Too lightweight a New York art drama to give much thought to. Greta is fabulous and Willem never phones it in but, to borrow a term from Gen Zers, it’s just unserious
First Venice Film Festival done! I missed a few I wanted to see (ANN LEE, the new Bigelow, I will find you) but i’m so happy that I could check another bucket-list festival off my list!
September 4, 2025 at 6:58 PM
First Venice Film Festival done! I missed a few I wanted to see (ANN LEE, the new Bigelow, I will find you) but i’m so happy that I could check another bucket-list festival off my list!
DEAD MAN’S WIRE is a (ahem) blast. Gus Van Sant gets his mojo back in a zippy, lightweight ‘70s hostage thriller powered by a hilarious Bill Skarsgard. Good movie to end my first #Venezia on!
September 4, 2025 at 6:58 PM
DEAD MAN’S WIRE is a (ahem) blast. Gus Van Sant gets his mojo back in a zippy, lightweight ‘70s hostage thriller powered by a hilarious Bill Skarsgard. Good movie to end my first #Venezia on!
THE SMASHING MACHINE is a frustratingly traditional sports biopic that I wish would’ve let itself breathe a little, though Benny Safdie shoots it with a real sense of craft. Still, The Rock gives a soulful, earnest performance (when it’s not hindered by the prosthetics)
September 1, 2025 at 8:07 PM
THE SMASHING MACHINE is a frustratingly traditional sports biopic that I wish would’ve let itself breathe a little, though Benny Safdie shoots it with a real sense of craft. Still, The Rock gives a soulful, earnest performance (when it’s not hindered by the prosthetics)
THE LAST VIKING: An extremely Danish dark comedy in which Mads Mikkelsen gets to be the goofiest he’s been in a while, as a man who thinks he’s John Lennon. A little lightweight but there’s lots of good Beatles jokes. I laughed a lot!
August 31, 2025 at 6:58 PM
THE LAST VIKING: An extremely Danish dark comedy in which Mads Mikkelsen gets to be the goofiest he’s been in a while, as a man who thinks he’s John Lennon. A little lightweight but there’s lots of good Beatles jokes. I laughed a lot!
AFTER THE HUNT: As a major Luca fan it pains me to say his (not quite) Me Too movie is a staid disappointment. Grasps at several intriguing ideas but rarely follows through. Julia Roberts is tremendous but everyone else comes off as an intellectual caricature. We have TAR at home!
August 29, 2025 at 5:23 PM
AFTER THE HUNT: As a major Luca fan it pains me to say his (not quite) Me Too movie is a staid disappointment. Grasps at several intriguing ideas but rarely follows through. Julia Roberts is tremendous but everyone else comes off as an intellectual caricature. We have TAR at home!
JAY KELLY: I loooved this one. What if Julia Roberts’ NOTTING HILL scenes were also MILLENNIUM ACTRESS with a sprinkling of Altman? Some might call it schmaltzy but i ate all that sugary-sweetness up. Adam Sandler ❤️
August 28, 2025 at 8:41 PM
JAY KELLY: I loooved this one. What if Julia Roberts’ NOTTING HILL scenes were also MILLENNIUM ACTRESS with a sprinkling of Altman? Some might call it schmaltzy but i ate all that sugary-sweetness up. Adam Sandler ❤️
First movie out of #Venezia82: LA GRAZIA. As one of the few defenders of PARTHENOPE I was looking forward to the new Sorrentino but I’m sad to say it’s a bit of a snooze. Got some fun punky moments and intriguing ideas about age and mortality, but doesn’t probe deep enough.
August 27, 2025 at 7:57 PM
First movie out of #Venezia82: LA GRAZIA. As one of the few defenders of PARTHENOPE I was looking forward to the new Sorrentino but I’m sad to say it’s a bit of a snooze. Got some fun punky moments and intriguing ideas about age and mortality, but doesn’t probe deep enough.
