A grim, unique, dark as hell, oddball noir gem. The film has fate, destiny, tragedy, swindling, hubris, evil, and deceit. Alcoholism, psychology, and spirituality are all tackled in compelling ways. Two great lead performances, with Tyrone Powers cast out of type as a loathsome charlatan in the performance of his life (think a dark mirror reflection of Eddie from The Hustler), and Coleen Gray as Molly — the good woman in love with a bad man. There is also a terrific…
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The French Dispatch 2021
Wes Anderson’s new movie takes sure-footed right turns into the style he is known for, leaning into quirky literary flamboyance, comical eccentricity, and fabulous visual flair. It takes all things “Wes Anderson” and runs with them, so if you don't like that style, The French Dispatch isn’t going to change your mind. Actually, it might drive you crazy. The film is (knowingly) excessive, but since it is composed of three distinct stories, you never get stuck in any one place for…
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Red Rocket 2021
Amazing photography, unbeatable world building, great script. Mike is one of the best portrayals of a character type, hard to sum up but a combination of opportunistic, reckless, and highly destructive, despite having some qualities and a moral conflict, that I’ve seen in cinema. Loads of great characters and performances. I’ll need to see this again to decide on the ending. It didn’t work in the cinema, at all.
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The Souvenir: Part II 2021
Sublime. So much in here to love — the combination of quiet pacing and emotional energy, characters that feel completely real and alive, a soulful script, great needle drops. Has a rhythm with the first one that makes me hope for a trilogy. Joanna Hogg might be my favourite new director.
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Portrait of a Lady on Fire 2019
Excellent cinematography (Claire Mathon) and a powerful sense of place and time create an impressive backdrop for this love story between a female portrait painter (Noémie Merlant as Marianne) and the lady of the house (Adèle Haenel as Héloïse). Terrific performances memorably etch two strong-willed personalities, equally stubborn and intelligent, in the mind. Set at the end of the 18th century (the time of Jane Austen, whose style of romantic literature this film feels part of), the manners and behavioural…
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Dune 2021
Villeneuve's long-awaited science fiction space adventure, coming more than half a century after Frank Herbert’s novel with a couple failed attempts in between (a cancelled production by Jodorowsky in the 1970s, and a disastrous effort by Lynch in 1984), manages to be both deeply flawed and a movie that doesn’t disappoint. There are two films in there, and I think it will split audiences. It puts on the screen a spectacular and extremely cinematic version of a fascinating and imaginative…
