D.Moore

It has been a long time since a performance has captivated me as much as Emma Stone's here. I was cautious, because Yorgos Lanthimos's The Favourite didn't impress me as much as the rest of the world five years ago, and yet at least on the surface it seemed like a relatively normal film. Poor Things isn’t like that, it was immensely enjoyable from the opening scene. Victorian surrealism, strange scenes alternating with stranger ones, and gradually everything starts to make sense, but you still have no idea where it's going. I'm sure the film is brimming with all sorts of psychological and philosophical meanings; double, triple and multiple meanings that can be gradually revealed, but aren't necessary. It can stand without them and conveys its message easily to everyone, however bizarre the story and its protagonists are.

An insightful and, most importantly, lighthearted Christmas superhero story where neither the Earth nor the universe is in danger of extinction and it's "just" about one criminal plot and one man getting home for the holidays. In Joss Whedon's Avengers, Hawkeye was the least interesting character, and I was sorry because Jeremy Renner is a likeable guy. But the Russo brothers afforded him a number of opportunities in subsequent films, which he has taken advantage of, and this series definitely makes him a really great character. The fact that Hailee Steinfeld is as important to his story as he is doesn't bother me at all, because she's simply a hit too.

Great film, exactly the kind of biopic I like - they pick out one important chapter in the life of a particular person, and when well written and filmed, they manage to say everything that matters. From that perspective, though, Ferrari is a bit more cunning. It may be about Enzo or Piero, it may be about both at the same time, but it’s most likely about the name Ferrari and its bearers and wearers. Michael Mann has it down to a tee, from the opening black and white scene with the eye-popping rear projection, to the quiet and loud dialogue and the amazing theatre scene, to the racing sequences with the camera damn low to the road, and the crash scenes (the ugly visual effects in the trailer is thankfully not so ugly  in the cinema). Still, it's not the roaring engines that propel Ferrari forward, but the brilliant performances of Adam Driver, who is once again someone else entirely and can steal any scene, the vivacious Penélope Cruz and her perfect counterpart Shailene Woodley. Daniel Pemberton's stamping music and the beautiful cinematography complete the experience and enhance it. Once again, a true big screen film.

I like Zack Snyder, I consider his comic book movies to be the best ever made in the genre (yes, I'm talking about the recent ones), and I like him as a person for his passion for the cause. However, what the hell was this supposed to be? I don't mind that the film rips off/draws from wherever it can, the trailer had already prepared me for that, but why on earth is it so... Empty? Stupid? Bloated? Boring? If the opening shot makes you giggle like a teenager and the following monologue, which is supposed to explain what kind of world we're in, doesn't explain anything, let me tell you that it doesn't get any better in the next minutes, tens of minutes, two hours. Perhaps only the desire to mock will pass you by, because Rebel Moon isn't worth that either. In This is the kind of film that would have ended up on videotape at best in the 1980s or 1990s, even though its creators were convinced they had made a masterpiece. It didn't work this time, Zack, and I don't think the second part will fix it.

It could have been a hit. Or should have. But it would have had to be written by someone who understood the magic of the first film, which even after 23 years is the best Aardman feature. Dawn of the Nugget is technically top-notch, but unfortunately there’s no story that can entertain young and old alike. The first film was The Great Escape with Chickens, but you could enjoy it even if you didn't know The Great Escape. This is a mediocre sequel that, while it briefly ventures into something like Mission: Impossible with chickens, is more of a slog. Too bad. Perhaps the best way to describe the change is the soundtrack, which Harry Gregson-Williams composed himself this time without John Powell. The playfulness has disappeared from the music too, leaving filler that at best is listenable as a backdrop.

I really enjoyed this series a lot. The Jekyll-and-Hyde horror vibe mixes very naturally with the adventure more in the style of The Mummy than Indiana Jones, but it's still Marvel, so there's no shortage of humor (pleasantly dark at times) and action (imaginative thanks to something I won't reveal). The final two episodes and the very end then made Moon Knight something more than just another comic book adaptation, and made the main character one of the most interesting in the MCU, which I hope the lords and ladies will capitalize on. If they don't, it would be a real shame.

A pleasant surprise. A comedy of a French style, admittedly boorish to the point of shame and full of unpleasant characters, but you can tell it was written and directed by someone who understands comedy.

This is how I hoped to like Don't Look Up, but I didn't. Not even close. Leave the World Behind is a much more mysterious, clever, funny, better made and written film that actually accurately describes my feelings about the world today. Like Julia Roberts’s monologue in the shack.

I felt like I was watching an "old" Japanese Godzilla movie made with new technology, so I think the purpose was served. A serious-minded story with interesting characters (which is probably the biggest difference from the current American MonsterVerse) that, like all of Japan, went from pre-war crisis to post-war crisis. All of that is naturally blended with wonderfully and deliberately dumbed-down ideas, such as the plan to destroy Godzilla, that I couldn't help but be excited. The digital Godzilla looks like a man in a rubber suit, and when he starts the demolition work and the Ifukube's theme music plays, it's really something. If I were 100% objective, I might give it one less star. But I don't want to.

For how short it is and how relatively little they talk in it, Ghost in the Shell has a surprising amount to say. A good idea in a good presentation is something always welcome, and this is one of those few select sci-fi films that have somehow managed not to get old (like Blade Runner, Alien, Akira, The Matrix, Back to the Future II...), even though reality has overtaken or almost caught up with them in terms of years. If I had to single out one thing, it would be a completely amazing five-minute long scene in the middle, in which nothing substantial happens at all, it’s "just" the haunting atmospheric music and alternating shots of a neon futuristic city. It draws you in perfectly.