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 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 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.
Antonio Banderas shines with an understated performance in Pain and Glory, a self-reflective study in nostalgia.
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.
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.
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 tells a story of life in emptiness, of being alone in the void. It is deliberately paced, and mesmerizing in its own way.
Booksmart is everything a teen comedy could ever aspire to be: it’s razor sharp, it’s quick on its feet, it’s full of love and tenderness, it’s original, it’s uplifting, and as if that wasn’t enough, yes, it is a comedy, and it’s hilarious. Olivia Wilde directed a treasure of a movie, and you cannot watch it soon enough.
The John Wick series has mastered the craft of practical action to perfection, and this instalment does not disappoint.
The Film Tower 