Arthur Harari sure likes his insanely heated French courts. Starts off a bit too slow but once it gets going, an intensely compelling piece. Some really great ‘gotcha’ moments here underlied by the darker underlying edge of the systematic injustices of the court and police. French Jason Isaacs Arieh Worthalter brings some strong firebrand energy to the titular Goldman. Good stuff from Cédric Khan - while I was less engaged at the start I grew more and more invested…
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Pictures of Ghosts 2023
Oscar International Film Submissions Ranked
Personal and archival footage weaves together Kleber Mendonça Filho's memories within the wider scope of his hometown Recife's history, mapped through movie theatres. Making use of a variety of documentarian techniques, a vivid sense of time and place, and its gradual passage is conveyed through the spaces and structures of these venues. We move from the apartment Filho grew up in, where the combination of footage articulates the distinction between the 'normal home'…
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Thunder 2022
Oscar International Film Submissions Ranked
Religious repression and burgeoning youthful desire set against the through a rural 1900s Swiss village makes for a quietly effective piece. Occasionally loses a bit of focus, but largely a thoughtful and unique coming of age tale; I’d like to give it time to sink in a bit more.
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Chameleon Street 1989
A particularly prickly, daring con artist yarn, Harris pushing the envelope with some really crisp direction (and that distinct voice). Brisk, biting, tackling a lot of stuff at once; hard to pin it all down, but such a fascinating indie novelty, that deserved pioneering status.
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Traces 2022
Oscar International Film Submissions Ranked
Gradual to the point of meandering a bit, but effectively crafts a sense of mourning, recovery in its gradual storytelling and understated visual staging, weaving the past and present together. Marija Skaricic impresses with a reflective leading turn. Grew on me as it went along.
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The Nature of Love 2023
Oscillates between kind of amusing and gratingly obnoxious (reaching ‘please just shut up’ levels), just about got by through Chokri’s lively directorial touches, but only just about. Liked Babysitter considerably more, and this feels in the same spirit and the style is reminiscent, for some reason I just couldn’t buy into the characters and the predicament overall this time around. But not entirely without merit, there are a few good laughs and neat direction - and my annoyance may have been its intent, but can’t say I liked that approach overall.
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Just the Two of Us 2023
A few weird directing choices undercut it in parts, but this otherwise a quite solid, draining look at an abusive marriage - be warned, very tough watch at points. Efira is excellent (though her playing twins doesn’t really add much), Poupaud is effective as a truly awful sort.
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John Wick: Chapter 4 2023
Holds up just as beautifully on rewatch, just such beautifully orgasmic action cinema, that fluid camerawork, intricate choreography and atmospheric sound design making each movement this thing of beauty. Not too much to add from last time besides appreciating it all the more, and it really is one of the best crafted films of the year.
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Earth Mama 2023
Savannah Leaf’s portrait of single motherhood is beautifully shot, a bit too familiar in its general execution of its dramatic beats, but I did like it all the same for its warmth and honesty in dealing with its central character’s plight. Tia Nomore gives quite an impressive debut turn.
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The Taste of Things 2023
Oscar International Film Submissions Ranked
‘May I watch you eat?’
The food porn I expected and adored every frame of. Tran Anh Hung uses not just the gorgeous visual palette of the fluid camera, but also the expert use of sound over score, to craft so many stunning shots of delicious cuisine in every step of its preparation. It’s stunning to watch in itself and if the entire film was just this I would already consider it a…
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May December 2023
It's kind of mind-blowing just how fucking amazing this film is and what Todd Haynes achieves in bringing so many different things together and just making it work so brilliantly.
We have the starting point of an actress, Elizabeth, (Natalie Portman), and her salacious subject matter for an upcoming role, Gracie (Moore), who began an affair with her 20+ years younger husband Joe (Charles Melton) when he was a minor. There's several different directions one could go with…
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American Symphony 2023
Intimate portrait of the musical craft and process and the driving force of Batiste and Jaouad’s love and devotion. I was deeply moved at many points, and it builds to a pretty amazing Carnegie Hall crescendo. This managed to intertwine the musical and personal in ways that another film I’ve seen this year failed to do, though I suppose some of that has to do with the documentary form being more suited to this kind of tale than a biopic. Deeply personal use of the documentary form and beautifully done.