Keeping pace with Hollywoods perpetual awards horserace.
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Calling 2024 a year of change and trepidation in Hollywood would be an understatement.
This is on balance averystrong Oscar year.
Theyre still waiting for one.
Lotta penises in this one, though!
And while theres a welcome griminess to this film, the characterizations all feel pretty limp.
Perhaps appropriately (if unfortunately),Inside Out 2cant get out of its own head.
So often, a film thats lighter in subject matter will feel like a welcome relief.
From one perspective, thats an improvement on the original.
Too bad it looks demonstrably worse in almost every way.
There is plenty of fun to be had with Denzel Washingtons peacocking villain (or … is he?)
Before its a musical without any memorable songs, it is a movie that is French.
It is, indeed, impressive motion-capture work.
Its sturdy craftsmanship, even as the storytelling makes less and less of an impact.
as he self-destructs his way through fame and fortune before emerging a wiser and more reflective man.
Louis Superman works hard to thread together multiple perspectives on convicted murderer John Henry Ramirez and his impending execution.
We hear from Ramirez himself, who speaks with clarity about his crime and his ostensible reformation in prison.
Most impactful is the films focus on the adult son of Ramirezs victim, whose anger seems so unyielding.
The 19th victim was a retired Croatian military officer who spoke out against the unlawful police action.
Orloks castle is sinister, his shadow inescapable, his vibes truly awful.
Does it matter that I cant begin to understand how Im meant to feel about Lily-Rose Depps character?
Or that whats to be done about Orklok isnt fully expressed until the films closing moments?
But I mostly wanted to watch CoppolasDraculaonce this was over.
If it is,September 5does it as well you could hope for.
),A Complete Unknownalso surprised a lot of people by, frankly, not sucking.
Meanwhile, Chalamets committed performance (he doesso muchsinging!)
was far from the cartoonish portrayal many had feared.
Which isnt to sayConclaveis undeserving of its status as a crypto-queer classic.
Its a movie about gossip, soft power, bold colors, and big reveals.
BecauseThe Wild Robotis manipulative as hell, and I loved every second of it.
We laugh, clap, cheer, aw, and cry all exactly when were supposed to.
The whole interconnected picture of global and local history even within a short time period is just too vast.
Which is what makes Johan Grimonprezs film so simultaneously impressive and daunting.
As weve come to expect from this franchise, the film is clever, silly, and brisk.
Exactly what the doctor ordered right at the end of awards season.
Still, Von Horn infuses his film with menace and dread that extends beyond the films grim revelation.
The black-and-white cinematography is effectively murky, painting everything from circus sideshows to public baths with impenetrable inky corners.
Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis used 3-D animation to create characters and environments that look meticulously crafted and cared for.
The animation of the water alone is thoroughly mesmerizing.
amid floods and storms and stampedes.
A logistical wonderanda cute animal movie!
The survivors willingness to excavate their shame and trauma make this film tough but mandatory viewing.
Its an act of political filmmaking that refuses to hold the politics at any kind of a remove.
(Not for nothing, but this would make an incredible back-to-back viewing withIm Still Here.)
Assembled from public surveillance and police body-cam footage,Incidentdepicts the 2018 Chicago police killing of Harith Snoop Augustus.
Powerful, important, and a testament to how applying cinematic techniques can draw out a larger truth.
The final 20 minutes are a tear-it-all-down carnival of gore that represented the best in-theater experience of the year.
Awards voters were less compelled to fete this second part.
I dont want this series to stop until Villeneuve imagines his way through the entire known universe.
You almost have to force yourself to remember whenbigmovies could also be about … architects.
And weirdly this year we got two of them!
(I dont want to hear about how Ayn Rand been knew.)
Hungarian refugee Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody), with all his vision and talent (that library scene!
), subjects himself to first the alienation of American society and then to its predatory acquisition.
Does the film wobble in its post-intermission half?
