Arrival is one of those rare films that are simply perfect the way they are. Every time I see it I am astounded all over again at how a film can be so profoundly clever and emotionally touching at the same time.
Month: June 2019
Capharnaum (2018)
It will break your heart to watch Capharnaum, but you should give yourself to it and go on its journey. Under the hardships it portrays, there is a lifeline of hope and an overwhelming thirst for justice.
Happy As Lazzaro (2019) – Movie Review
Happy As Lazzaro is a very high concept movie, but in order to go for high concept you need to have something strong to say, and I don’t think the whimsy here works for any cohesive message. Unless the message is “slavery is bad”, which isn’t exactly breaking narrative ground.
Bad Times At The El Royale (2019) – Movie Review
Bad Times At The El Royale is beautifully produced and it doesn’t feel all that slow for how long it is, but more than anything it is a great cast and an intriguing concept that end up fizzling out.
The Wolf’s Call (Le Chant du Loup) (2019)
The film is clever with its central conflict, the wrenches it throws into the characters’ gears are unexpected, and the decisions made to solve them have real stakes and no easy options.
Pain and Glory (2019) – Movie Review
Antonio Banderas shines with an understated performance in Pain and Glory, a self-reflective study in nostalgia.
God’s Own Country (2017) – Movie Review
God’s Own Country is harsh, but it is also tender, and it’s all the more affecting because it finds hope and love not in a fairy tale but in a story that feels real and lived in. I am sorry I missed it when it came out, because I feel like I lost valuable time where I could have been thinking about it.
The Perfection (2019)
For the first of the three distinct acts that make up The Perfection, it feels like we’re watching a brisk, tightly wound horror film, clever and stylish; then it goes downhill, wasting talented performers and beautiful cinematography.
Parasite (2019) – Movie Review
If you haven’t seen Parasite, and you’re here because you’re planning to: I envy you, because you’re about to go on a wild ride.
High Life (2018) – Movie Review
High Life tells a story of life in emptiness, of being alone in the void. It is deliberately paced, and mesmerizing in its own way.
