Reviews

Excellent tearjerker, presented in episodes of one life (Suzanne's, duh) in the course of many years, from childhood to motherhood, etc... What makes the film special is how wisely those episodes are chosen, exposing a great deal of information in a very effective way for each case, and this is sustained throughout the entire runtime, right until the end. It is effective as we learn both what is shown and what underlies it, with precise cinematic language, and the accumulated emotional charge is never excessive, there is no fanfare but a gentle, deep and steady melancholy. I was engaged and this 90s minutes telling of half a life passed me by like a teary breeze, every scene matters. Researching Adèle Haenel's filmography is a great idea, highly recommended, she doesn't do bad films.

Interesting faux-documentary style to reflect on death and generational ennui. The main issue I have is the character of Joachim, he's the worst. Fortunately, he's not the protagonist, but he got on my nerves... Is he meant to represent his generation? Are we really so narcissistic and naive? Adèle Haenel guides us as much as the characters. She carries a plot that really asks the audience to hold on, until she manages a beautiful monologue before a satisfying climax.

It's an interesting film to talk about, with seemingly empty scenes carrying a lot of subtext, but I still found it oddly executed.

Affleck/Damon do their own "Ford vs. Ferrari" here, using sports epics to resell the American dream, the notion that "talent finds a way", always with great melancholy because all these stories belong to the past. A love letter to good ol' business done right more than to basketball, even if there's some honest maintenance of the Jordan myth. It gets sentimental, but it's a solid script overall, sport is nothing without its stories, just as a shoe is just a shoe... There's a lot of great dialogue, especially from Matt Damon and Viola Davis, who plays Jordan's mother with honour, paying respect to all black mothers. Having Chris Tucker was a cool choice, Bateman is always pretty good and I'm glad Matthew Maher is becoming sort of a thing.

Pretty good recreation of the 80s, especially the colour palette and sets, which are presented in detail just when it matters, showing machinery, marketing images, archive footage... and always making sure we understand what people believed back then. Sometimes they might try to cram too much information in, but they do it as appreciated nods to the audience. Nothing much to say, they got the formula right, this guys are smart. Everyone loves to reminize that special time, it was fun to watch, probably one of the best films of its kind, but it's a short-lived type of film, basically a glorified tv-movie.

A spoiler-free review should be brief. I'll stay away from the plot and just say that you can tell how much fun everyone had making it, starting with Rian Johnson, who is an excellent screenwriter. He challenged himself with this one and I think he came through with flying colours. Then the actors, you can feel the fun they're having, shooting in Greece and all. Daniel Craig's accent is all over the place, Janelle Monáe is enjoying every frame, Dave Bautista always happy to be there... then there's Kate Hudson, who in my opinion absolutely owns it, hilarious, a comeback almost befitting Tarantino.

This kind of film is a one-time viewing, and I had a lot more fun with it than I did with the, now in retrospect, self-serious Knives Out. For such a twist-o-rama, it's really quite an achievement to keep it so tight and fun without missing a beat, or rather, to pull through two hours of nonsense without collapsing. I rate it only a 7 because, honestly, it's pretty silly, and very noisy. I could understand someone prefering the tidiness, in substance and form, of Knives Out. For once I'm gonna pick the dumb movie.

Right at the beginning there are a couple of cheap sneers at both Wokism and men's rights, I don't think they're political at all. I saw it as an early statement to the audience: "forget reality (what is reality?), this is just for fun". Well, and money, but yeah, for us it's just fun.

French filmmakers are the kings of realistic cop films. Here's another story of a detective haunted by a difficult case. The resolution is spoiled in the very first credits, so the expectations are clearly set from the start. That doesn't make the investigation process any less interesting, with good characters, good dialogues and an enthralling pace that resembles the drifty focus of a detective working overtime.

It had me glued to the screen. Then, suddenly, after some timely reflections on male violence, several female characters appear out of nowhere and become the ones with the good ideas, the initiative, the answers, the ones in control of their emotions... it's not subtle at all. There are several allusions to the ineffective police work of male detectives specifically. At first it didn't bother me because the script is intelligent, on the whole, and not at all the usual Hollywood schmaltz, but this abrupt shift in content, tone and style is off-putting, the narrative becomes blatant, as if it was written by someone else. These scenes are added to the more or less fictionalised account of real events, I don't know, it certainly feels like something "added" to find a solution to the plot.

This does not affect the point they're making though, it's a strong one, presented here as in no other film I know of, with a case that speaks for itself. At the heart of the violence there is also a place for the police, and they're both full of men. It elevates the film, regardless of one's opinion on the late, abrupt loss of subtlety.

Good surprise, it achieves what it sets out to do, though I can't compare it to the novel. It works mostly as a heist movie: the plan, the plan-makers, the anticipation and tension as the moment approaches, the unexpected and the aftermath. It takes its time to introduce all the characters with brief but effective expository flashbacks. Everything is very well structured, we get to know them as we learn the plan, top-notch editing. There are eight activists who more or less fill the range of archetypes, an intense loner, a walker Texas rancher, a couple of punks, and so on.

There are explosives involved, so things get tense, though this is no Hurt Locker. It's more like a competent, mid-budget crime drama with a political core. The politics are not discussed in depth but they're adressed sufficiently and with a clear mind. There are some truly disgusting shots of refinery rubbish next to houses and city streets... This film doesn't claim to be the answer to everything, it just wants to inspire some thought, hopefully some action. A collapse is happening before our eyes and all lines of thought/action must be discused. At the very least, it's an entertaining Saturday night movie, is that inoffensive enough? I personally wanted that pipe to blow up all the way to kingdom come.

A (deceptively?) simple moral tale on goodness and foolishness. At first I thought it would be a bit infuriating but it isn't because any dumb decision is presented with humor and sweetness. The plot follows a simple man who, along with his wife, tries to make sense of the events that unfold when he crosses paths with a mentally challenged homeless man. It might not be award material but it's well put together, I liked it.

Chinese films like this one sometimes feel unsubtle, though I appreciate this style after hundreds of cynical and needlessly obtuse movies. This one moves along very nicely, it's lighthearted and it has an interesting conclusion. Is earth wasted on us? Are good people always bullied? What's the cost/gain of helping/asking for help? Side note, I thought the wife was cute, turns out she's a drop-dead gorgeous opera singer. There yo go.

At times absurdist comedy, horror slasher, psycho thriller... ultimately a very clever classic film, although it probably misses a lot of content from the novel. Right from the opening credits there's a play on appearances, mistaking juice for blood. Superficiality and the cult of appearances, "inside doesn't matter" is a spear through the heart of Judeo-American capitalist society. Monstrous inequality, as portrayed in scenes with a homeless man and a prostitute. People as commodities, which, to be clear, is the same conclusion Pasolini came to when he addressed fascism. All this and much more is successfully presented in scenes such as the one with the personal cards, as sharp as it is hilarious. We are avatars. Chloë Sevigny's character puzzles me, and it's one of the things that might be lost in this film adaptation. The same goes for the detective's hints and the entire last act, of which I have my own theories.

The suspense is simple but effective, the horror imagery is sparse but perfectly timed and it's definitely an achievement how seamlessly it combines different tones and rhythms. I'm not sure what to make of the album reviews but I think they were pretty good.

I'm so late to the party, I just never felt like watching this, not sure what to expect. It's probably been widely misunderstood, I'm sure feminists view it as an unintentional documentary (to be fair it's worrying how some men seem to like it unironically). In reality the same observations can be made today, they're just as relevant. Yuppies have only changed in a matter of aesthetics, we have the same pill-driven rat race. A lot of women today behave as Batemen and Batewomen, getting away with murder. That name must be a little nod to Batman, I guess Bruce Wayne is the ultimate yuppie. It's amazing that Christian Bale played both roles.

So Amir did something amazing and this film is going to tell us all about it. He fooled some brand, you'll see. What did he do, exactly? Not much, I'm left as puzzled as the characters when they ask that same question. What's the point? I'm missing the joke most of the time. Amir spends the film just transporting himself passively from point A to point B. The look into the process is cool, and it's all weirdly entertaining, but there's no story here, this is merely an anecdote. No one was fooled, really. It's all so ambiguous.

It reminded me slightly of Kiarostami's Close Up, but not really, because Amir doesn't seem to want anything, to try anything... he's just amused and bored at the same time. The best thing is the direction, to be honest. Kristoffer Borgli is going to do great things, that guy is talented.

I didn't expect it to be THIS good. There's a lot of film talent in Scandinavia lately. If you're reading this and the combo "drama, comedy, horror" sounds appealing you can't go wrong with this one (I recommend watching it alone). It does those three genres well with great timing. It's funny, it's horrific, it's devastating and beautiful. A lot of films - most of them really - nail the beginning and then fall apart, or resort to generic formulas for the ending, but a good ending makes it all worth it, gives meaning to the whole thing, I believe it's the most crucial part of a film.

This is really great stuff, a descent into madness presented with intelligence, sensitivy and style, it's up there close to heavy weights like Cronenberg's The Fly or Polanski's Repulsion; and Kristine Kujath Thorp is outstanding, without her there is no film. Besides, she is absolutely gorgeous. This deserves much more attention (ha!).

Basically what I expected, a James Wan mix of Chucky, Terminator and Christine the killer car, except those lived up to their own rules. This M3GAN thing "maximizes her objective functions" whenever she feels like it: ninja moves, super strenght, super speed, super reflexes, piano playing, remote hackering... she doesn't fly off into the sunset, but she could have if she ever wanted. She learns, I get it, but come on.

Some dialogues are very well written, almost too well, the attachment theory was on point and very well explained, the final showdown is fun... but overall I think it's surprisingly stupid. The doll is the least dystopian thing here. In classic american fashion, the world -meaning your own garden or a school picnic- is unreasonably violent and dangerous. There are killer dogs and psycopath boys everywhere. Are we supposed to root for the murderous robot?

What's really dystopic though is how they sell the doll as an excuse NOT to raise your kids. Gemma the aunt literally says: "with M3GAN around, she'll take care of the little things..." (the doll puts the girl to bed) "...so you can spend more time doing the things that matter" (the aunt takes her laptop and turns on TV). Wtf? They acknowledge this briefly and move on. I can't even... Have things really gotten that bad?

Also, this movie hates children. And what's up with the GLaDOS voice? It technicaly exploits the fear of AI, but it's just the same old movie about the fear of technology, in general. I can only guess James Wan didn't direct it for a reason.

Shyamalan has once again fallen in love with his own premise, and it's so stupid that it's hard to look away. He is first and foremost a commercial filmmaker, he always seems to have a mass audience in mind when he sets out his films, and he knows perfectly well that how the plot actually plays out is not a priority at all. That's how shallow it all is, but that's a given; the film is not good by any standards. There's hardly any action, close to no suspense at all, not a trace of mistery, the horror tag is a joke, too rushed for the drama to be any good, seriously unfunny... what else? Ah, yes, he didn't have the balls to show the gay couple kiss in a close up shot.

This reminded me -very faintly- of 12 Angry Men. The audience is presented with a situation seemingly impossible to revert and we can only guess that it will in the end, but how? It seems so impossible! In that film we got a thorough analysis of circumstances and here we got... Well, we're supposed to care about these people because they love each other very much, but we can only guess from brief flashbacks to clichéd episodes in their lives. When it comes to their possible demise, the stakes are nothing more than basic human empathy. We don't know them, they're just a stereotype! Besides, the nature of the script makes it all predictable. But at least the whole thing is quick, it feels shorter than it is.

It resorts to the ongoing anxieties about the future, and it's a bunch of nonsense... The false misanthropy was cringe. The only cool thing is Bautista, of course he is, that's the hook. I'm really struggling not to add spoilers so I'll stop.

One of those long films that doesn't feel long at all despite being over two hours, and for that alone it's worth considering. It is... unpredictable, no doubt, most of the time very clever, sometimes very stupid, always presented in the now classic Ruben Östlund style, clean and precise. The critics seem to hate it and they have a point but this film is not for them, it's self-indulgent and fun. There's a fascinating balance between seriousness and unseriousness, looking for absurd truth in all the issues it touches on, mainly wealth distribution and power dynamics, plus the things that come with them, corruption, opportunism, sorority, gender roles, the chain of command...

There's the power triangle and the love triangle and they both are sad. Östlund isn't subtle when disparaging the rich but neither was Buñuel, I'm okay with it. He has a style that I can't yet put my finger on, but it works. The cruise scenes have a certain rhythm that makes them inherently funny even if they're not. I bet he likes Jacques Tati. That understated style says so much right from the opening scene. It works even when the movie seems to go nowhere. If every political attempt by the film bourgeoisie is branded as moralising, we are going nowhere.

Overall it's a cluttered piece of work, a full bouffet, not all of it is a success and the resolution feels like an afterthought, but I was too entertained to care.

I remember films like American Splendor disappointing me because they had little to say about comics. THIS is what I wanted, an intelligent look at both the art and reality of industry, and even the world itself. When done this well, the message works for any other form of craftsmanship, I don't particularily care about the specifics. It's the struggle, the grind, the muses... as a moderate Peter Bagge fan I appreciate the aesthetics, but it goes beyond that, into very fascinating territory. It reaches depths that can't easily be expressed with words, and so the film is elusive, even a bit puzzling sometimes, because it's having a go at the very core of what an artist is, yet it remains funny in its most heartbreaking moments.

It is ruthless with the naivety of the young aspiring artist, merciless but never mean. It also strikes surprisingly hard blows at the determination of genuine talent; some might say the film gets a bit pessimistic, but I think it's very real, life determined by chance and opportunities. There are dilemmas between originality and pragmatism, expectations and the actual perception of funny drawings. There is self-assertion, rule-breaking, soul-sacrificing, obssession, failures... It's a very good film and it bids farewell to the audience with sweetness and dark humour.

I love Kore-eda but this one was a bit rough around the edges. It still has the master's touch, light and warm, but it drags on and gets too long and tangled. The characters pile up, making the plot increasingly complex, foreshadowing a difficult resolution that the master resolves with grace, but without being particularly satisfying. At times I found it hard to understand what was going on, there are loose ends, false indications... perhaps fiddling with the crime genre detracts more than it adds.

It's another fascinating reflection on what it means to form a family, but the theme of motherhood, no matter how deep and complex, doesn't provide enough nuance to support two hours of footage; perhaps that's where the addition of the crime plot comes from. On a more positive note, I would highlight the reflection on adoption, done with great precision and wisdom, with a cheerful heart pointing at simple solutions to complicated problems, as long as people do their part. It is a delicate subject that in this case could not be in better hands.

Kore-eda looks for a fresh angle and spreads his magic but this time the result seems a little formulaic. It's still has plenty of moments of delightful filmmaking but I wouldn't recommend to delve into his work with this film.

A good psycho-thriller that can get a little ridiculous towards the end. However, kudos to the filmmaker for getting in there and letting the film evolve as its own beast, reaching a dark but logical conclusion. Good stuff, even if it lost me a little bit. The first hour is great, including an enthralling monologue from the wonderful Rebecca Hall, she's on top of this with her full range on display. Here's another psychological film built around her and I'm all for it. She plays a woman who manages her sex life with the same efficiency as she brushes her teeth, it all adds up to her detailed psychological profile. Tim Roth is great too as the supporting role (or rather undermining role), his character feels really menacing.

It's really sad how trauma works. This big stain that can't be washed away and stays there forever. It really sucks and the film does a great job of portraying how it can take over a life, no matter how good that life is, no matter how long it's been repressed. It stays there, impossible to share. That comes through and it shows that this film is very well thought out.

On a side note, I find it both tragic and hilarious (some will say they're the same thing) how men have been lectured for decades into having feelings only to end up mocked for mismanaging them. Damned if we do, damned if we don't.

I didn't expect much from this absurdly unsubtle setting, and yet I was deeply disappointed. It is appalling. What could be an interesting exploration of womanhood lazily devolves into a childish vision of patriarchy. It's a film that can be told in one sentence, it's that vapid. There is no reflection whatsoever, which is probably one of the reasons why most things are told through pictures rather than words. Not much to say; not much to show either. Recycled slow motion shots of the beautiful Raffey Cassidy screaming, that's the level of craftsmanship we're dealing with here.

There could be poetry in there somewhere, at one point something about "a sun fuelled by women's fear" came to mind, potential for some kind of adult view on the role of women in the patriarchy, but nope. It's a simple "bad man is bad" that doesn't even leave a strong opinion on religion. It looks good, though not in any original way. I liked what they did with hairstyle, as usual a symbol of implied sexuality.

The religious imagery is there to add gravitas and because Polish filmmaker Malgorzata Szumowska can't resist overlapping Christian scenarios with liberal politics. There's an exile, a Lilith... the things women do to please, am I right? It feels like the work of a woman who got into feminism late in life, perhaps even as a career opportunity.

These semi-artistic, talentless films look more and more alike every year. They all move at the same slow but steady pace, they all follow the same ridiculously constricted structure (while talking about freedom)... this will soon be imitated by AI. They already feel robotic. Now, compare this to something like Mungiu's Beyond the Hills. That's a proper film.

A bleak, unconventional film heavily indebted to The Shining. It wastes no time in demonstrating that it isn't messing around then quickly settles into an unsettling drone. It may get a little too comfortable with the build-up, stretching it out as it tries to move seamlessly into the final chain of events. As interesting as this proposition is, and it really is very interesting, I felt it dragged too much going into the final act. It had me and then it lost me.

The potential exploration of mental health and religious fanatism is frustratingly insubstantial, but the setting is excellent. Not a bad film at all, just a bit disappointing, worse than the sum of its parts. Riley Keough does an amazing performance as the fragile tortured homewrecker's psyche. I'm glad I watched it, some food for thought. I'm liking it more as I'm thinking about it.

It was inevitable, Kristen Stewart had to star in some Ripley role like this Alien meets The Abyss meets Gravity. It's just right, all the elements are there, the cool crew, the broken machinery, it's all pretty good. It all looks like something off a concept artist's page, which is also the downside. The characters are mere excuses to get from point a to point b. There's no real arc, except for a vague lead who overcomes her cynicism.

Cinematographer Bazelli is the star, doing some great stuff with very limited light sources. It gets a little disorienting, for the same reason. Ultimately, the lack of ambition is welcomed, strangely; here's a simple monster thriller, that gets very tense very fast and goes straight to the point, rather than some overlong BS no one wants. However, I can't help but feel a little disappointed, especially considering how well it starts off.

Sorrentino himself refers to Cuarón's Roma as a source of inspiration, and there we go again, like Tarantino and PTAnderson, another self-indulgent film about the auteur's youth, except I'd say this is the best of the bunch. Sorrentino is not afraid of that wide angle, in his hands it seems small. He captures images and feelings larger than life, reminding us once again of the myth of Italy and its relationship with beauty. With great sensitivity.

It reminded me of Cinema Paradiso, I like this one better, as a whole. It's on that level, when it comes to coming of age films. But I admit I'm personally more inclined towards anything from the late 80s and early 90s. Beautiful film. I appreciate the religious overtones around what I also consider the most beautiful moment of the 20th century: Maradona in '86, boosted in Napoli with the championship the following year. What a time to be alive.

An episode of Black Mirror stretched out over 90 minutes, except that its premise, based on a short story, would barely make for an episode of television. The result is that everything that could be said in 5 minutes is done in 15. A fatal recipe for boredom, despite the occasional beauty. The stilted dialogue doesn't help, spoken as if constantly worried about not waking the neighbors. Colin "Lobster" Farrell is not to blame, however.

Deep? No, it isn't. You can't just quote one of the great eastern philosophers and call it a day. That's unacceptable. From the title you know there's going to be some lame reference to Yin and Yang, of course, there is too. I'm not saying it's not interesting to reflect on the aftermath of death through the fatal malfunction of a robot, the best moments are basically that, but those are like 10% of the movie.

Now, I know what you're thinking. The family consists of a white man, a black woman and an Asian daughter, where are the Indians? Did they really forget about Indian representation? And they call themselves inclusive? What kind of joke is this? Don't worry, the scientist is half Indian, of course she is. You can sleep at ease.

Industrial narrative for an apathetic audience, Kogonada simply exploits the Western fascination with all things Eastern, and couldn't even resist the temptation to parallel technophobia and racism. He makes a couple of montages à la Terrence Malick and lets himself drift to the finish line. For some, cinema has become like television, only slower, longer and with no need to entertain or resolve. If you stretch a piece of chewing gum, what you get is a thin, almost transparent layer, I don't want that. Give me the gum.

To be honest, my first reaction watching this was terrible. Not only I hated Stewart's mannered interpretation but the tone of the film as well, the steadycam, the music (some jazz playing, oh my goodness). But it all grew on me. Stewart can't hide her shoulders when not wearing shoulder pads, but she manages to capture enough of Lady Di's unique way of inspiring gentleness, kindness and worry around her. Few people have ever been as bored as she was. This could be tagged in the prison escape subgenre.

There's some short but sweet dialogues that say much with very little. She basically has one short converstation with every other relevant character, but those are well utilized, no need for more. Biopics have learned to focus on crucial elements of the character's life and this one makes the right choice, restricted to a period of a couple of days and discarding even further unnecessary details.

It's not anti-monarchist, it's more about freedom, really. It stays away from controversy, keeping its distance, analyzing the royals without questioning them, letting the images speak for themselves. It does respect the main characters, again, focusing almost exclusively on Diana. I remember during those years she was everywhere. I saw her on TV once, literally running down the street being chased by the paparazzi. It was really nasty long before it became tragic. I'm glad she got away from there and I'm glad I wasn't carried by my first impression, it's a good biopic.