This looks like another film from the strange imagination of Yorgos Lanthimos but it’s actually a remake of a South Korean one. The original director was even slated to direct this but bowed out due to health issues. The premise about two conspiracy-minded nobodies who kidnap a corporate CEO believing that she is an alien is out there but it’s nothing too crazy. Watching it feels underwhelming as it’s just three people in a remote house. I was going to write it off as being merely mediocre but then the twist drops and I’m left asking what the heck was the point of all that?
A Canadian film by a director I’ve never heard of and starring no one of note comes with no great expectations. Yet it is one of the most intense crime thrillers I’ve watched in years and is far and away the most realistic depiction of how a real-life hacker operates I’ve ever seen. The subject of livestreamed torture rooms is shocking enough and seems impossibly difficult to handle in a way that doesn’t feel exploitative. Yet Red Rooms goes one better by diving into the psyche of the kind of person who is obsessed with such content. A superlative film on all counts.
I’m not one for sports films nor have I watched any of the entries in the Rocky franchise aside from the first one. I was persuaded to add this to my watch list by the excellence of Sinners and the realization that it was Creed that convinced Hollywood that Ryan Coogler could be trusted with a blockbuster film. It’s impressive that he not only directed this, he also wrote the screenplay. The result is as good a passing-the-torch movie as you could ask for while staying firmly within the established conventions of the franchise.
Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World stays in my mind for being one of the most subversive films I’ve watched and I always congratulate myself for figuring what it wants to express. Sentimental Value features the same lead actress Renate Reinsve but with multiple key characters in play, it’s harder to narrow down what it’s about. In the event, the theme of depression isn’t as unique but its intricate exploration of parent-child dynamics and perfect execution makes it fantastic anyway.
We’d previously seen the breakout film Wadjda by the Saudi Arabian female filmmaker Haifaa al-Mansour. This one is naturally another film about female empowerment in the kingdom focusing on perhaps the ultimate form of it, participating in its politics. It actually seems to take place in a better environment for women under a government that is trying to enact some reforms and so isn’t quite as depressing. By taking on elections, this isn’t just a more serious subject that buying a bicycle but gives us a better look at the lives of adults in the country.
This Japanese series and the manga that inspired it is so beloved that there are Korean and Chinese versions of the show. My wife mentioned it in passing a while and since it’s leaving Netflix soon, I thought I should give it a shot. The format with its short episodes of straightforward stories, each highlighting a dish is easy to digest. It’s also as easy to like as the comfort food it features. Unfortunately it’s equally as insubstantial and far too sentimental. I can see the appeal for some audiences after watching one season but it’s not for us.
The Odyssey had a lot of negative press going in with critics zeroing in on his ahistorical choices and an overly modern interpretation of the Greek classic. But when the film finally hit the cinemas, it looks like Christopher Nolan has done it again and won over both the critics and audiences. I admit that I had my doubts as well and certainly it’s simplistic in how it casts Odysseus as a flawed hero but still a hero. But sitting down in the cinema before a huge screen, this level of depth is more than good enough as Nolan has delivered an epic, audio-visual experience like no other this year that will effortlessly keep you glued to your seats for its nearly three hours running length.
