My rating remains the same. First half is a bit of a slog, the second half is quite marvellous. Can’t really elaborate much more on the murky plot, because it’s just not hefty enough to ponder on beyond the final credits. Some interesting themes touched upon throughout though…
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Perfect Days 2023
“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me, and I’m feeling good.”
A quiet and meditative tone poem, made by a master in his twilight years, hosting a lead actor with a subtle charisma and charm that I’d happily clean toilets and play shadow tag with. I love the way Hirayama gazes up into the sky each morning with a smile of contentment and the way he looks for Komorebi at every opportune moment,…
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Dune: Part Two 2024
Nothing less than hyperbole is required. Dune levels up to the franchise it was destined to be. A spectacularly epic affair that has had the challenge of proving itself worthy of all the cinema that has come in the wake of the source novel since it was published in 1965. For decades upon decades we have seen its ideas find their ways into all areas of cinema to the point that it was hard to believe that anything new and inventive…
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Poor Things 2023
How serendipitous that I just finished the novel today (enamoured with the whole affair as I am), and I was able to revisit the world of Bella Baxter this evening, this time in the company of my wife and a bottle of crimson nectar of the vine. Needless to say that it remains my film of 2023, and no I will not say if “furious jumping” ended the evening.
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About Dry Grasses 2023
Frosty characters consumed by an equally frosty climate. I’m a little underwhelmed (although my rating would prove otherwise) by Ceylan’s lack of focus in both this and his last film Wild Pear Tree as he navigates some prickly issues through the lens of a narcissistic lead character whose interactions with all around him are completely toxic. All this would be an interesting character study if the ending didn’t seem so strangely out of place, seemingly tacked on to wrap up the…
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The Zone of Interest 2023
Jonathan Glazer casts his gaze on the banality of evil and offers the audience an insight into how atrocity is committed not by larger than life, almost mythological monsters but by plain old human beings with the same needs and desires that we all have, existing within societies that allow this evil to manifest until it becomes an all-consuming entity.
We are offered the sounds over the wall to remind us where we are, but the images are not necessary…
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Orion and the Dark 2024
Watched with the kids, most of which suffer from similar anxieties depicted, yet they could barely relate to the events that unfold past the first stretch of the film. Interesting to see this was a Charlie Kaufman script, which certainly levels up the film but can’t really save it from what is ultimately an admirable attempt at reaching for the lofty emotional core of Pixar’s Inside Out. It is a mostly enjoyable little flick with some interesting storytelling devices, but…
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American Fiction 2023
Despite the less than enthusiastic reception around the ‘hood, I was down wif dis. It worked for me on most levels, but probably could’ve pushed and prodded a tad harder. Top notch performances, and humorous script with a few heartfelt moments along the way made for a solid night in front of the box, even if I would wish to have taken away something a little more to chew on post film rather than just the temporary satisfaction.
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Robot Dreams 2023
What a charmer!
A genuinely simple and touching tale of loneliness and relationships that tugs the heartstrings and ends in a satisfying way that you may not expect. Some of my children were in tears by the finale.
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Anatomy of a Fall 2023
Even richer and more rewarding upon a follow-up viewing. I really wanted to watch this with the missus this time as it’s the type of film that’s right up her alley. Suffice to say she dug it and some good discussion was had post-film. Gotta give it up for Snoop, best dog performance ever?