Film Review 171 – Crew

Watched: 26th April 2024

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

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   This is the first modern Bollywood film I’ve ever seen, and watching it in the cinema was such an amazing experience. The comedy, the acting, the visuals, the setting, everything is so over-the-top without ever veering, in my opinion, into ridiculousness. The plot of Crew is nothing that amazing – it’s your typical kind of screwball comedy, with a dash of crime caper mixed in – but I think it’s really solidified by some pretty grounding and comedic performances from its three leading ladies. It’s certainly whetted my appetite to see more Bollywood films in the future, that’s for sure.

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Originally posted on Letterboxd on 6th May 2024: https://boxd.it/6lRXJH

Film Review 168 – Monkey Man

Watched: 5th April 2024

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

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   Hurtling through things at a breakneck pace, Monkey Man is, in all honesty, a pretty impressive directorial debut for Dev Patel. As the titular character, he’s also not bad – he captures Kid’s haunted, hunted soul with a lot of gusto, balancing the character’s trauma and how it manifests (such as in that very good bathroom scene) with the fire constantly burning in him, the rage that keeps him going when everything else is gone. As a work of social commentary, the film is also quite insightful, even though it took me a while to figure out exactly what side of the conflict Kid was on (not a fault, it’s one of the film’s better instances of show don’t tell). The action sequences are well-choreographed, and I was frequently either on the edge of my seat or – when it was bloodier – looking away.

   What I would say is that the film, overall, did feel pretty familiar. I didn’t like the ‘remember who you are’ section, purely because I feel like that’s something you see in every single revenge thriller of this ilk and it felt so cliched here particularly. Nevertheless, minor quibbles aside, if this is Patel’s first foray into filmmaking then I think his craft will only get more refined the more he tries.

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Originally posted on Letterboxd on 27th April 2024: https://boxd.it/6dyand

Fil Review 166 – Drive-Away Dolls

Watched: 20th March 2024

Rating: 3/5 stars

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   Started off strong, but like a car speeding off into the distance, it left its better qualities in its wake. Surprisingly I actually quite enjoyed Margaret Qualley’s accent, and thought she and Geraldine Viswanathan balanced each other out pretty nicely – but the decision to have them get together just felt very contrived. I didn’t really see much romantic chemistry between them, so not sure why they went down that route. There were a fair few funny moments in the film, some of them a bit too ludicrous to land, but I found my patience wearing thinner by the end – and when it’s barely over 80 minutes long, I don’t think that’s the best result you want. Just a lot of promise that I don’t feel quite delivered.

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Originally posted on Letterboxd on 11th April 2024: https://boxd.it/667PfH

Film Review 165 – Anatomy of a Fall

Watched: 14th March 2024

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

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   Did Sandra do it? Did she do it? Who knows! Who even cares (that much) when the mystery of trying to figure it out is so compelling? Anatomy of a Fall leaves just enough breadcrumbs to follow along, but still, does it lead you the destination that is factually true, or just your favoured interpretation? We are given just enough of the outline to feel confident in colouring in its interior, but even still, there’s always the nagging suspicion that something has been missed, that something has been misunderstood. Sandra Hüller, in her third performance of the year for me, is the outstanding central piece of this puzzle – there is an unflappable sense of calm to her, and yet you’re never quite sure if it’s really who she is or if she is just a consummate actress. The scrutiny placed on her is unbearable – the court scenes alone, while compelling viewing, are equally as stressful, and watching her navigating this minefield, trying desperately to not fall into its pitfalls, is riveting. The supporting cast are fantastic as well, and a special shout-out must go to Antoine Reinartz as the prosecutor (so slay that you can’t help but appreciate him even if he is going after Sandra with the appetite of a hellhound). This was absolutely one of the best watches of the year so far that had every cog in my head turning frantically trying to figure things out, and I loved every second of it.

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Originally posted on Letterboxd on 11th April 2024: https://boxd.it/63iseh

Film Review 164 – Monster

Watched: 11th March 2024

Rating: 4/5 stars

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   I didn’t expect Monster to be as queer as it was, so you can imagine my delight when I saw the pieces falling into place and began to realise exactly what was going on. The perspective of each act shifting so suddenly is a very interesting narrative conceit – you initially think this is the story of a mother looking for justice for her son in a society that has lots of biases against her, then you think it’s the story of a teacher who goes from being a heartless villain to someone falsely accused of cruelty. Then it transpires that all this time, there’s been a story going on just under the surface, the relationship between two young boys trying to find themselves in a society that is so quick to judge, so quick to point out what it thinks is wrong.

   Our three leading actors – Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama, and especially Soya Kurokawa (for whom I predict big things in the future) – play each of their parts with perfection. Ando brings the sensitive fire of a mother to Saori, and the scenes of her in the schoolroom pleading for the teachers to do something about what she thinks is a teacher abusing her son are the most gripping of the film. It highlights the inhumanity of a system dedicated to trying to maintain a clean image, to sweeping things under the rug so that image won’t be tarnished, all while Ando tries to appeal from the opposite, human side. Nagayama is our uncaring villain, cold and brash, and then we see him as a genuinely empathetic and supportive teacher, see how a narrative over which he has no control begins to rip his life apart piece by piece. With Kurokawa, any queer person must recognise Minato’s struggle. How do you process those feelings of first love, when you begin to realise that your life is not just your own to lead, and that the path you need to walk will never be the path that society expects you to? Throughout each character’s emotional journey, we have a sombre, powerful score by Ryuichi Sakamoto, one that charts the very recognisable human drama unfolding before our eyes.

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Originally posted on Letterboxd on 25th March 2024: https://boxd.it/621Txd

Film Review 162 – Dune: Part Two

Watched: 8th March 2024

Rating: 5/5 stars

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   The spectacle of watching this in IMAX format was frankly incomparable. I watched the first one in a normal cinema when it came out, and still found myself blown away by the effects and sounds – but last night took the biscuit. Dune 2 is nearly three hours’ worth of unrelenting spectacle, a tour-de-force that ducks and weaves, charges and feints, pushes through everything in its path without ever losing a single second of its own momentum. I hate sand as well, but it’s never looked so good on the silver screen, those wide shots of desolate dunes (see what I did there) haunting in their beauty beneath the pre-dawn sky, or else the blistering open desert at high noon, where earth and sky seem to melt into one. And then you contrast this with Giedi Prime, the unsettling glamour of its fighting pits, everything in a monochromatic, otherworldly glow that only highlights the inhumanity of its inhabitants, their almost-human faces and expressions. Dune 2 is a feast for not just the eyes, but all the senses.

   What of its story though? A problem I found with the initial Dune, that it sacrificed some of its heart in order to build its world (a necessary evil, to be sure), is all but gone in its sequel. Timothée Chalamet’s descent from hero to anti-hero, as Paul Atreides begins to resign himself to the destiny he has long tried to resist, is sobering to watch, but what is equally as gripping is the effect it has on his relationship with Chani – and how Zendaya captures the character’s natural sharpness and softness, the love she has for Paul tempered with the fear she has of him becoming someone unrecognisable. Meanwhile you have Rebecca Ferguson giving another scintillating turn as Lady Jessica, all notions of Bene Gesserit planning and plotting cranked up to 100 as she endeavours to make a messiah of her son. Dune is a space opera whose story rests not on grand, intrinsic moral notions of good versus evil, but instead on the dynamics of power, family, prophecy and truth. Is Paul really the long-awaited saviour? Does that even matter, when so many around him – and he himself – believe it? This is a parable against the dangers of extremism, of religious fervour and how imperialism do nothing except to decimate cultures with centuries of history. Watching Zendaya standing alone – quite literally – against this oncoming storm is almost sad, though I can’t wait to see how it turns out in Dune Messiah.

   Likewise, now that the story is fully on its way, the closing chapter of this trilogy has a lot to live up to. Florence Pugh hints at moments of Irulan’s iron will, but I’m still waiting to see her blade fully brandished. Likewise, if I could ask for something of this film, it would have been slightly more of the imperial court, slightly more of the Bene Gesserit. When you’re adapting something so dense, changes are necessary though, and Denis Villeneuve shows that his hands are more than capable at holding this delicate balance.

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Originally posted on Letterboxd on 21st March 2024: https://boxd.it/60pvWj

Film Review 159 – The Taste of Things

Watched: 17th February 2024

Rating: 3/5 stars

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   This is a visually stunning film. Juliette Binoche is beautiful, the gardens of the chateau are beautiful, the food is beautiful. Everything you see on the screen evokes the heady days of summer, pleasure as cerebral as it is sensual. It’s the pleasure of strolls in the warm grass, of the sun on your skin, but also of hands at work, the satisfaction of relaxing back and watching others involved in manual activity, a kind of chaos that is both frenzied and organised. The effect is almost soporific, in a good way – the first half an hour of just being completely immersed in the preparation of such an extravagant, and yet in many ways understated, feast is one of my favourite sequences of the film. From ordinary vegetables, meats, liquids, sauces, spices, herbs, and everything else, Binoche and Benoît Magimel conjure up courses fit for kings, gods, emperors. Watching them do so is magical, enough to make me want to give up veganism and gorge myself on baked Alaska – almost.

   And yet, after this first half an hour of wonderful simmering passion, something in this film rises to the surface that infuriates me, and I think it’s the pomposity of 19^th century French gourmets who think that they invented eating. It took me back to my days as a university student, equally as annoyed by the French intellectual conception that it is only their identity forged so heavily by food, by how it is eaten, by how it is prepared, by how they must wax lyrical at every turn over this historical reference and that historical reference. Writing this, I worry that I sound almost anti-intellectual, but it left a sour taste in my mouth. Extravagance is not always inherently wrong, but you get the sense that Dodin and his gaggle of fawning lackeys partake of an ortolan or two far more often than most people would ever get the chance to, and it turns the flavour of this film into something that doesn’t fully sit right with me. A smidge overcooked, left too long in the oven, too sure that it will be liked no matter how it tastes.

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Originally posted on Letterboxd on 25th February 2024: https://boxd.it/5R156H

Film Review 158 – American Fiction

Watched: 8th February 2024

Rating: 4/5 stars

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   Minor spoilers, although since it happens so soon into the movie I’m not sure I can justify it as a spoiler, but wow – can’t believe they killed Tracee Ellis Ross off so soon. For a comedy film I would’ve expected them to make ample use of her jocular chops, but the Roe vs. Wade joke was actually genuinely incredibly funny, so I won’t be forgetting that anytime soon. But how does the rest of American Fiction way up? I found Jeffrey Wright to be a gripping central character, by turns uproariously funny and by others genuinely emotional, though Sterling K. Brown is having the time of his life as Cliff as well. Like the most realistic of brothers they are nothing alike, and yet at the same time have a fundamental trait in common, the same stubbornness that makes you realise, oh yeah, they’re brothers even if they can’t seem to stand each other at certain moments. This is a film about family dynamics under shadows who’ve been cast for so long that you almost can’t remember who cast them in the first place, but it’s also a sharp, sharp jab at society’s current obsession with trauma porn (in a way, another manifestation of such dynamics – if a very dark one) and how white liberals in particular, in trying to uplift the voices of the marginalised, have very set ideas about what ‘marginalised’ actually means, and who resultantly pigeonhole these voices into cast-iron moulds from which escape becomes nigh-impossible. Both narratives feed into each other so well, and for all the humour that American Fiction must naturally endow as a satire if it wants to make its point, it damn well doesn’t forget that funny can’t always be everything.

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Originally posted on Letterboxd on 23rd February 2024: https://boxd.it/5N44uD

Film Review 157 – All of Us Strangers

Watched: 3rd February 2024

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

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   I went into All of Us Strangers apparently having seriously misread the brief, because the film’s premise was not what I had anticipated at all. Claire Foy as Andrew Scott’s dead mother was the biggest surprise of all, but she was one of the stars of the show – the kind of mother that is instantly recognisable to so many queer people, the little boys who grew up knowing that there must have been suspicions lingering in the back of the mind, suspicions whose roots grow deeper and deeper until they are trees casting their shadows over everything, but don’t look up, you mustn’t look up. But while this is a film about a queer experience, the loneliness that it causes for so many decades ago, I think that All of Us Strangers is more a film about grief in general, about not having your place in the world, about being unable to move on and learning how to cope with the torments raging in your soul. Andrew Scott gives a frankly phenomenal performance, one of the most moving I’ve seen all year. In turn he is the middle-aged man, hardened by that life of solitude and inability to connect, and then seconds later you see the boy again, the boy who wants his parents to accept him, the boy who just wants to grow up in a world where it’s okay to be himself, where he doesn’t have to spend years hiding who he is. The boy who wants to be able to show his soul in its entirety to his parents – and what queer person cannot, on some level, relate to that? In many ways this film is a reminder of how far we’ve come, but in many ways, it also shows that the trees cast long shadows, even when the leaves have fallen and all we have left are gnarled trunks and withered branches.

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Originally posted on Letterboxd on 18th February 2024: https://boxd.it/5KGle7

Film Review 154 – The Holdovers

Watched: 25th January 2024

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

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   Paul Giamatti is incredible in this. Da’Vine Joy Randolph is incredible in this. Dominic Sessa is incredible in this. In case that doesn’t convince you, let me explain why. The trifecta of The Holdovers are three characters who all come from disparate walks in life, yet all in a way have come through the thorns and brambles, have clambered up the mountainside, have tumbled down the side and dusted themselves back off again. I think that, out of the three of them, Sessa’s Angus still has the most climbing to do – his performance has the radiant arrogance of youth, but also its passion, the fiery sensitivity that anyone who was once a teenage loner can relate to. In many ways this is the story of all three of them, but I can’t help but feel like Angus’s arc anchors the film. He’s hilarious, infuriating, bittersweet, and enchanting all at once, and if this is anything to go by, Dominic Sessa is without a doubt an actor to keep an eye on.

   However, if Angus’s coming-of-age story requires a guide, an older, wiser mentor who, nevertheless, has his own demons to work through…then my goodness, how lucky he is to have Professor Hunham, played with a magnificent pathos and humanity by Paul Giamatti. Curmudgeonly, dogmatic, singularly convinced of the unyielding, inflexible truth of his own opinions, you’d be forgiven for thinking the same as his students – that this is a bitter old man whose kingdom is his classroom. Yet as much as Angus learns from professor, Paul learns from him too, realising that life isn’t all just about rules, realising that the superficial judgements he is so keen to pass on his students year after year are just that – superficial. They make for an incredibly magnetic partnership on the screen, and I could watch them spar and confide for hours on end.

   There’s a third person in this film, though, and out of all the performances I’ve seen, I think Da’Vine Joy Randolph is my preferred choice for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. There is a beautiful understated nature to her performance, a kind of dogged resolve no matter what life throws at her – yet under her smile, behind her laugh, you feel the sadness there, the absence of departed loved ones like a void in her heart. Like the others, life has thrown its curveballs at her, but I find that Mary, out of the three of them, is the most in tune with her emotions, brings the most relatable kind of humanity to it. On their own, each character delivers a stellar performance, but it’s the scenes with all three of them together that make The Holdovers such a moving and affecting watch. I already want to go and see it again!

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Originally posted on Letterboxd on 4th February 2024: https://boxd.it/5Gr3oH