Reviews

Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine try and do their best with the adapted source material that ambivalently centers on a 40 year old divorced LA mom getting romantically involved with a British boyband popstar 16 years her minor. It also does little to elevate itself to film form with basic cinematography, an editing style of split-screen montages and its decision to bizarrely invest a large amount of the almost 2 hour run on Galitzine performing pop songs as his character. This leaves the script with no choice but to rush the conflict and outsource it to every single character that isn't actually them. In the end you're left wondering if Hathaway's problem was ever really their age gap or is her character's parenting situation just very specific.

"La Chimera" is a bittersweet addition to the magical-Italian-realism cinematic universe of director Alice Rohrwacher. Her new parable about Italy that's also a folklore fairytale tells the story of clairvoyant/haunted archeologist/graverobber Arthur, played by Josh O'Connor. Arthur's journey to retrieve the film's buried namesake is not one for glory and it's barely for riches; O'Connor commits both emotionally and physically to a naturalistic portrait of a lost man searching for something that is beyond the tangible. This heavy-hearted quest is balanced thanks to moments orchestrated by Arthur's local gang of merry graverobbers, played by former collaborators from Rohrwacher films. Another great performance is by Isabella Rosellni, playing a women that is connected to Arthur through personal history and in her attachment to living in the past. The film is far less narrative-driven, instead choosing to follow Arthur from one moment to another, a nod to the wandering man of other Italian greats, Pasolini and Felini. The ending, similarly, leaves viewers with the choice of deciding whether Arthur was victorious in fulfilling his wish or not.

"Challengers" delivers on its fresh editing and visuals, talented cast and excellent soundtrack, but it doesn't exactly thrill viewers with a brand new topic from director Luca Guadagnino: the story of an explosive trio with a messy romantic past, was already explored in the older cast of "a bigger splash", starring Tilda Swinton. Swinton's Rockstar Marianne is also similar to Zendaya's Tashi in their physical state leaving them in a power struggle to regain an equal footing to their male counterparts, who are exhibiting the director's now-famous homoeroticism celebrated in "call me by your name". In this sense, "Challengers" is a decidedly young, fun and American-based mediation between the two films, relying on its sport theme to allow a fast pace that propelles the events and its characters forward.

Long-time followers of Yorgos Lanthimos will hardly be shocked by the offerings in his latest film, "Poor Things", that continues to explore his interest with deconstruction of a law-abiding society that exists at the expense of the mind and body of the individual. In many ways, "Poor Things" echoes similar themes of his breakthrough feature, "Dogtooth" and his later, English-spoken film, "The Lobster", but does so with a larger scope of visual imagination. This, unfortunately, comes many times at the expense of the story, which is missing a few important stops on the old hero/heroine journey towards self-realisation. Namely, its ending forgets the film's attempt at being a satire all together. Is this a tour-de-force of Ms. Emma Stone career? Sure. Is it Lanthimos' best? Hardly, but one can adopt a sense of optimism upon existing the cinema and look forward to his next project.

You can not love Haynes previous topics (LGBTQ focused stories), but he is a masterful and experienced visual storyteller with the ability to create beautiful scenery and use painstaking attention to detail - all of that is missing in its entirety from "May December". Staging and blocking is so by-the-way here that it comes out as an infuriatingly LAZY effort to translate something which is already pretty heavy-handed material. Even his two great actresses' performance is hurt by bad cinematic decisions to either shoot a too-open shot or one that stays too far away when a close-up was badly warranted. Very disappointed that this was executed as a TV-movie.

Turkiye doesn't shy away from social dramas, but it so rarley and bravely decide to delve in such an explicit way when discussing explosive topics such as homophobia, sexism, xenophobia and corruption.

The cinematography is beautiful, giving enough time to explore the confining atmosphere closing in on Emre. Also, the utelizing of water throughout was done in such a clever way - not only with the intention of allegorical, but also as an agent of action driving the characters to act. It also has some bureaucracy absurdism which lightens the mood, right before thing get serious.

The acting is great and well casted, especially the actor playing Emre really knows how to pace himself emotionally, without falling once into an exaggerated dramatic scene. Turkiye's young generation of actors are gaining a name for themselves and their craft.

Black Mirror is known to have standout episodes throughout its run of 6 seasons, they are usually those who manage to better illuminate - for better or worse - humanity using technology for its deepest and darkest means and wants.

Beyond the Sea is hands-down season 6 strongest episode, but it still not its best. The decision to venture to the past, albeit an alternative one, meant going back to those familiar celestial frontiers. Famously brought to the silver screen by cold war cinema masters Kubrick and Tarkovsky, BM disappoints and almost gives us nothing new in that respect. It's not so much a lazy visual telling, as it is a decision to reconstruct what we already know existed fictionally and realistically during the space race era. Everything looks accurate, but it doesn't amount together to an honest, organic feeling of being, as much as a set dressed for actors.

Ghost in the shell is probably a good substitute title, as both Hartnett and Paul serve as a lifeline and bring the much needed emotional depth to their characters, elevating the script to a semblance of a real person; Kate Mara, who portrays Paul's wife, Lana, is dealt a much less generous hand. It seems the overall writing forgets to care for its female characters. It is so laser focused on the storytelling of toxic masculinity, that it neglects to take an interest in her experience and utilizes her existence as an accessory, a purely scripted means to an end. Whatever progressive statement it was trying to make about life and men "back then", seems to ring just as true at the hands of the writers now.

Ironically, another previous standout, San Junipro, and its representation of futuristic same-sex female relationship is years and years advanced from this and it doesn't have to be.

Messy, long and lacking cinematic storytelling, we basically get an elaborate 109 minutes slideshow of the designer's life instead of an expression of who he was. Too often choosing to tell (and by so many talking heads!) instead of show, a Hollywood biopic using the archived materials and family interviews for once might actually be fitting here, considering just how much Ferragamo helped shape the industry from the inside. It is bewildering how this is the same director for films who put so much emphasis on form, as it stretches on from one point to another, without any attempt to create anything beyond an assortment of testimonials.

Look out, here comes a new generation of American indie filmmakers; with distinctly more diverse casting than ever before, even a decade after Dunham's "Girls" and Greta Gerwig perfecting the genre and now helmihg the director's stick, "Actual People" puts on its predecessor's old proclivities for too-long dialogues, badly lit sets, unimaginative framing and hand-held cinematography. What used to actually mean something aesthetically 15-20 years ago, wears itself here like pure creative laziness. You only get glimpses of genuine originality through IG stories-like fragments, but they are far and too few to really give a feeling of intention.

As with any Cronenberg film, the world with which we as viewers interact is graphically fleshed out to us - in all its bio-technology gore and glory. Unfortunately, the actual humans living in it are too inhumane for those who are still in the present to care about. Even Mortenson's supreme acting cannot carry it through.

By grounding itself in Japan's reality of an aging population and low birth rate, "plan 75" quickly and effectively departs from its so-called fantasy genre (i.e this is not actually happening) into a full-fledged real future which makes watching it so emotionally-engaging.

What could have easily played like a soapy drama, brings something entirely different to the table in the best way and leaves you laughing to the very last scene.

If you're looking for fast editing, well-crafted dialogues and sophisticated camera work look elsewhere. This is cinema about simple people told through simple means, but they are no less authentic than a high-budget blockbuster.

Darby is a boring lead; please stop writing shows about woman "realising" themselves solely through romantic relationships as the only seasonal arch - we deserve better.

Paradoxically, this movie is both too long and too short for its own good. The unfolding events and pacing lack any urgency from either character for the viewer to feel like any of what's happening actually needs to happen. At the same time, you wish you could see more into the lives and inner psyche of each character as they untangle themselves from their mutual past.

As this is hardly Baumbach's first attempt at storytelling on the subject, it pales to his early work and his joined efforts with actress, screenwriter and partner Gerta Gerwig.

So depressing that this is only feel good in the sense that it makes you feel good about your own life.

Throughout his career, Joaquin Phoenix has become an acting establishment for playing challenging yet relatable people; this still holds true for his portrayal of on becoming The Joker. This, however, does not excuse the film from not fleshing-out the rest of the cast who play out their parts like comic book characters.

The director doesn't seem interested in divulging feeling or information that will enlist us to Julie's perilous relationship which she obviously deemed important to make a film about. Can a bystander care?

Whenever a director decides to make a period piece I always ask myself from which place in time s/he is looking back from.

Is this movie advocating a lost time in which we were less consumed by technology or is this a rehab talk down memory lane? If your answer is "it shouldn't matter" you chose to obviously ignore Noe's capitalized messages informing you of "universal truths" through which you should observe his film.

I couldn't shake the feeling that it had a surprisingly moralizing attitude towards itself - that was rightfully missing from his previous "crimes" (as he loves to coin it) and lacked the riveting heart and soul that kept me engaged during "Irreversible" and "enter the void".

A movie that's seemingly perfect for this half-decade bent on a nostalgic 90's renaissance, mid90s is much like its protagonist Stevie trying to hang out with an older crowd: it emulates its cinematic predecessors (favoring 4:3 cinematography, a scene showing a teen use a videorecorder to interview a man on the street) but fails to innovate on its own.

With very few hiccups, this is a solid, well-crafted piece of retro 80's grind-arthouse film that takes its vision and runs with it for 121 minutes; achieved by great cinematography and soundtrack and aided by spot-on casting choices: the obvious being Nic Cage's Red and the refreshingly haunting Andrea Riseborough's Mandy (seriously channeling Shelley Duvall's The Shining stare).