Category: 3.5/4
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The Salesman [2016] ★★★½
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s “The Salesman” deservedly won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language movie. When I saw it last night, I had to stay in my seat for several minutes afterwards to take it all in. This is a rollercoaster of emotions that builds slowly and deliberately, leading up to an unforgettable climax. Part…
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Death Of A Cyclist [1955] ★★★½
Today’s classic film recommendation is Juan Antonio Bardem’s masterful “Death of a Cyclist”, released in the mid 1950’s under the Franco regime. It’s clear that Bardem’s aim was to criticize the huge gap between the poor and the rich, which explains why the movie was censored and Bardem was “forced” to change a key plot…
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Logan [2017] ★★★½
Hugh Jackman’s final outing as Logan is everything you would want from a Wolverine movie: violent, compelling and incredibly entertaining. And yet it seemed too good to be true: the previous two Wolverine adventures were fun, but they lacked soul. Which is why writer-director James Mangold (“Walk The Line”, 3:10 To Yuma”) had to spice…
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Manchester By The Sea [2016] ★★★½
Casey Affleck gives a tour de force performance in “Manchester By The Sea”, an emotionally charged drama that ranks among the best movies of 2016. Writer-director Kenneth Lonnergan paints a picture of an emotionally wounded man that is both harrowing and heartbreaking. Affleck plays Lee Chandler, a man who finds his life thrown into turmoil…
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Fences [2016] ★★★½
People will talk about Denzel Washington’s performance in “Fences” for years to come, but that’s not the only reason why the movie works so well. This is a first-rate film in every aspect; wonderfully acted, beautifully shot and directed with a keen eye for detail. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has…
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Silence [2016] ★★★½
Even before it hit the big screen, Martin Scorsese’s passion project “Silence” was met with a mixed reaction from critics and fans alike. The film, said the buzz, doesn’t look or feel like a Scorsese film. Now that I’ve finally seen the movie, I have to respectfully disagree. Having tackled issues of sin, religion, and…
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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story [2016] ★★★½
I don’t pretend to be the biggest Star Wars geek in the galaxy, but I do know a good Star Wars film when I see one, and “Rogue One” is exactly that. For one, it cleverly and effortlessly works as a link between episode III and Episode IV while working perfectly well as a standalone…
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Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them [2016] ★★★½
Little did I dream when I first encountered the magical world of Hogwarts some 15 years ago (wow has it been that long?) that I would become so attached to Harry Potter and his friends, and enjoy the experience of revisiting this world every couple of years. “Now what?” was my first reaction when “Deathly Hallows…
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Hacksaw Ridge [2016] ★★★½
Mel Gibson’s tribute to Private Desmond T. Doss, the man who single-handedly saved 75 wounded soldiers during the battle of Hacksaw Ridge in 1945 Japan, is nothing short of a triumph. Gibson also stages some of the best action scenes I’ve seen in a war movie, but that’s not the only reason why “Hacksaw Ridge” works…
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Hell Or High Water [2016] ★★★½
The movie with the worst trailer also turned out to be one of the year’s finest crime dramas. Working from a fierce script by Taylor Sheridan (“Sicario”. Need I say more?), director David Mackenzie sucks us in with incredible skill. The movie opens with Chris Pine and Ben Foster (both absolutely sensational by the way)…
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Fantastic Planet [1973] ★★★½
A psychedelic experience from start to finish, Rene Laloux’s richly rewarding “Fantastic Planet” (or “La planète Sauvage” in french) is unlike any animated movie you have ever seen. Set on a distant planet called Ygam where humans (called “Oms” here) are enslaved by giant blue creatures called Draags, a young boy called Terr dares to…
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The Conjuring 2 [2016] ★★★½
“The Conjuring 2” is that rare example of a horror sequel that surpasses the original. The first one scared the living hell out of me. Part 2 is 20 minutes longer, so you get an extra dose of scares. And boy does it work. So kudos to director James Wan for pulling it off once again.…
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Captain America: Civil War [2016] ★★★½
You’d think after so many movies (including 2 “Thor” movies, 3 Iron Man movies, 2 Avengers, 3 Captain America movies, “Ant Man” and “The Incredible Hulk”), this series would run out of steam by now. Not a chance. Instead, “Captain America: Civil War” emerges as one of the best superhero movies ever made. It’s smart,…
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Hitchcock/Truffaut [2015] ★★★½
Fascinating documentary is a must-see for every cinephile out there. Film Historian Kent Jones aims high and succeeds with flying colors as he takes us back to 1962, when a young Francois Truffaut asked Master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock to sit for an 8 day interview. And what an interview it was! We get to…
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Zootropolis [2016] ★★★½
I’m a sucker for Disney movies. But while I enjoyed most of their recent features (“Frozen”, “Big Hero 6”), I can’t remember the last time I loved a Disney animated movie as much as I loved “Zootropolis” (or “Zootopia” in the States). It evokes the best qualities of classic Disney, while adding fresh elements that seem damn…
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Deadpool [2016] ★★★½
“Deadpool” is everything an R-Rated superhero movie could hope to be: fast-paced, hilarious and incredibly entertaining. And yet I have to admit that I didn’t know what to really expect given its odd (but brilliant) marketing campaign (oh, Betty White) and the fact that Ryan Reynolds fucked up (excuse the language but it is an…
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Youth [2015] ★★★½
“Youth” is a beautiful, must see movie starring one of my all time favorite actors: Michael Caine. Caine is an actor of stature who is also a movie star with genuine glamour. In Paolo Sorentino’s masterful film, he plays a retired orchestra conductor who is spending his summer in a luxury spa in beautiful Switzerland…
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Truffaut: the adventures of Antoine Doinel
Way before “ Boyhood ”, François Roland Truffaut, French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic, as well as one of the founders of the French New Wave, directed “ Les 400 coups ” (“ The 400 blows ”), a childhood movie featuring his own alter ego: Antoine Doinel. Years later, Doinel appears in four subsequent films (including one short: “ Antoine…
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Spotlight [2015] ★★★½
No other 2015 movie will shock you more than “Spotlight”, a powerful take on what went down in 2001, when The Globe’s investigative team followed every lead to expose the story of sexual abuse within the Boston Catholic church. Director Tom McCarthy, who was clearly inspired by the 1970’s classic “All The President’s Men”, couldn’t…
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The Revenant [2015] ★★★½
Prepare yourself for the most tension-filled Western film you’ve seen in a very long time. Writer director Alejandro González Iñárritu follows up last year’s Oscar winner “Birdman” with another spectacular film. “The Revenant” is an epic 156 minutes survival story set in the cold West, circa 1823. Leonardo DiCaprio gives a brutal, Oscar worthy performance as Hugh…
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