REVIEW: Nr. 10 [2021]

Kamaihi. The best way to watch Alex van Warmerdam‘s latest Nr. 10 is to go in blind. He practically titled it “number 10” to help with that fact—it being his tenth directorial effort taking the spotlight from anything specific that happens within. It’s also the reason why the first half of the runtime unfolds conventionally. If all you’re watching is an actor (Tom Dewispelaere‘s Günter) as his world comes undone due to his director (Hans Kesting‘s Karl) discovering he’s having an affair with his wife (Anniek Pheifer‘s Isabel), you become…

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REVIEW: Blood Relatives [2022]

What does that make me? As a vampire without American identification, you could say Francis (Noah Segan) is an illegal immigrant regardless of the fact he’s lived in the country longer than anyone else currently alive with a legitimate birth certificate. Why he chooses to drive through red states in his vintage Barracuda while confusing Alex Jones-loving, conspiracy-theorizing yokels with Yiddish is therefore a mystery. This is the solitary bachelor life he’s chosen, though. And perhaps that part of the country is simply better suited for a nomadic lifestyle demanding…

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REVIEW: White Noise [2022]

Family is the cradle of the world’s misinformation. I must commend Noah Baumbach for taking on Don DeLillo‘s White Noise because it is nothing like his other films. Where they are all in some way a projection of his life and that of those around him, this satirical tale of one family’s (in)ability to cope with their impending mortality is on an entirely different tonal level. Because while Baumbach’s worlds are obviously heightened realities delivered through an affected aesthetic lens, the dialogue and interactions coming from the Gladney family have…

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REVIEW: EO [2022]

May all your dreams come true. Since it’s an homage to Au hasard Balthazar, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to find myself just as unenthused by Jerzy Skolimowski‘s EO as I was to Robert Bresson‘s cinematic touchstone. That’s not to say their comparisons and contrasts exist on a one-to-one basis, however. They’re actually very different films altogether. But for every improvement (letting the titular donkey be the lead character rather than merely a voyeur destined to return to his darling Marie) comes the realization that even less is being…

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REVIEW: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery [2022]

I gave you the truth. Even world-renowned private detectives like Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) get restless during lockdown. Just as Rian Johnson‘s Knives Out put some tongue-in-cheek gags a la Trumpism and the rise of fascism under the façade of politics, his sequel Glass Onion injects a bit of COVID pandemic fatigue in much the same way. Whereas that window dressing continued throughout the former via juxtaposing a Latina lead against her affluently entitled white employers, it ends here quite early so that the mystery itself can take center stage.…

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REVIEW: Au hasard Balthazar [1966]

The road cured him. I was told that Robert Bresson‘s Au hasard Balthazar was a heartbreaking story that could stir the emotions of even the most jaded audience member. By the end, I guess I proved them wrong since it left me cold for the duration. I get it, though. This metaphorical depiction of Christianity by way of the seven deadly sins is constructed in such a way to demand a reaction. Tragedy after tragedy occurs as men refuse to see the error of their stubbornness and villainy before ultimately…

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REVIEW: Causeway [2022]

Then what the hell was the point of all this? All Lynsey (Jennifer Lawrence) wanted to do growing up was get away. From her junkie brother (Russell Harvard‘s Justin). From her unreliable and selfish mother (Linda Emond‘s Gloria). From the house that reminded her of both. So, she enlisted in the army and went to Afghanistan. She kept busy. Excelled. Ensured that her mind was finally free of that past. Then her convoy was hit with an IED. While appearing unscathed on the surface, Lynsey suffered brain damage and trauma…

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REVIEW: My Father’s Dragon [2022]

I’m feeling really cautious! When the only home Elmer Elevator (Jacob Tremblay) ever knew becomes deserted and the grocery his mother (Golshifteh Farahani‘s Dela) owned is foreclosed, the duo is forced to move to the big city of Nevergreen amidst its hustle, bustle, industrial pollution, and mistrustful inhabitants. Gone are the days of knowing your neighbors and finding them the perfect item hiding in one of the shop’s corners. Now it’s scrounging every penny in the hopes of paying rent to Mrs. McClaren (Rita Moreno) so as not to be…

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REVIEW: Bardo, falsa crónica de unas cuantas verdades [Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths] [2022]

Slivers all knotted together. Our minds have a funny way of protecting us when events outside our control threaten to derail objectivity, comprehension, and even sanity. In the case of Silverio (Daniel Giménez Cacho) and Lucia Gacho (Griselda Siciliani) losing their first-born child Mateo thirty hours after his birth, the inability to let him go manifests as farce. They obviously know he’s gone—a metal urn in the shape of an egg holds his ashes. But the pain of that loss and the desire to watch him grow weaves a fantastical…

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REVIEW: Tár [2022]

There’s no glory for a robot. Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) is an icon. A genius. Listen to a lecture introduction given by The New Yorker‘s Adam Gopnik and you’d be hard-pressed to refute someone hailing her as the second-coming of Jesus Christ. She’s a God amongst men that everyone in the classical music scene wants to either work with or become and she gives back to them with fellowship programs, mentorships, and her position as lead conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. With an EGOT on her shelf, a wife…

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REVIEW: Nocebo [2022]

What isn’t in the mind? Christine’s (Eva Green) perfect life comes crashing down with a phone call on what should be the best day of her professional career. A children’s clothing fashion designer, her latest catwalk is proving an immense success once the buzzing pushes her into the next room to learn horrible news for which we can only hypothesize from the word “bodies.” Shock and horror wipe the smile from her face as she hangs up with a quietly distraught attempt to pretend none of it had happened. That’s…

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