Sadman

Fall Guy is merely entertaining. A romantic action comedy starring the radiant Emily Blunt and the most charismatic actor in Hollywood should be bedazzling. There is nothing wrong with the luminosity of either Gosling or Blunt, but rather Leitch, his script and his editor that darkens the screen. They simply lack the timing and directorial sense to film comedy. Many of the movie’s funniest lines fall flat because the staging and editing makes it ambiguous if scenes are supposed to be funny.

75 _45%

Kingdom of Heaven (2005) - Rated 09 Apr 2024

Directors Cut: Incredible work on a technical level (especially the music), but often smudged or lessened by janky editing, slow-mo overuse and haphazard zooms. Ridley is making choices, for sure, just not sure they made any sense. Bloom and Csokas both look the part, but fully unable to add the gravitas needed for their roles, unlike the rest of the cast and especially the best of all for me: Jeremy Fucking Irons. Had hopes for interesting moral discussion, felt mostly like moral signposting.

75 _45%

3 Body Problem (2024) - Rated 24 Mar 2024

As an adaptation, it does well at transforming the narrative into something that will work on screen without butchering the events that make the book series so striking. The creators have correctly assessed that the character work was what needed the most work, I am not fond of making them all so closely knit though. That makes the world feel smaller than it needs to. My main criticism is that audiovisually they haven't really captured the feeling of existential cosmic terror from the books.

80 _63%

Ibelin (2024) - Rated 14 Mar 2024

Yes, I shed my fair share of tears during this. I am the same age, same nationality and had the same hobby as Ibelin and as such had a bit more buy-in. Ibelin, the documentary, captures the warm sense of escape and belonging of social gaming and the second life it gave Mats, but I wish it had lingered on it more; shown more of him interacting with his guild and having fun, building friendships. What has stayed with me is Lisette carrying his casket and all his in-game running.

85 _81%

Dune: Part Two (2024) - Rated 12 Mar 2024

All sci-fi fans should be incredibly grateful that we have someone like Villeneuve taking the genre seriously and delivering something as immaculately formed as this. Dune: Part Two is awesome as an audiovisual experience and realization of a foreign world. After a first viewing, I am unsure if the storytelling is as immaculate. My first guess is that so many disparate threads diminishes the portent that should infuse the film. Will rewatch to confirm. (And enjoy the achievement again)

85 _81%

Oppenheimer (2023) - Rated 11 Mar 2024

A perfect clockwork of a movie. Every piece of filmmaking works together to create something monumental and furiously engaging. Nolan is not directing here but rather conducting, turning a pensive three hour character study into a cinematic symphony using all his signature flourishes. Nolan isn’t known for his dialogue, but I think the charmingly old-school banter here is the secret weapon that makes this so entertaining. Still unsure how Fission and Fusion interlink thematically.

70 _30%

Barbie (2023) - Rated 09 Mar 2024

Both too simple and explicit as it is muddled and complicated. The script here is ping-ponging between different themes, statements and perspectives, but whenever it tries to get specific it is preachy and clumsy. Meta-humor this political needs much more guile than this to be palatable. Gerwig’s directorial talents and Gosling’s comedic genius makes everything tolerable but the rewatch was not worth it

93 _98%

Aftersun (2022) - Rated 07 Mar 2024

Tender, real and lasting. Both actors are as perfect as can be. So evocatively filmed I felt the Turkish sun on my skin and the swimming pool water enveloping me in the cinema. The first time I saw it, it was a bit too cerebral for me to fully emotionally succumb to it but over time and repeat viewings I have. Every rewatch, I can go back and relive that summer holiday with them and it feels like being able to go back and relive your own memories.

80 _63%

Poor Things (2023) - Rated 06 Mar 2024

A perfect arthouse blockbuster. Aesthetically, it is a towering achievement. Costumes, hair styling and production design are not my expertise, but even I can see their brilliance here. So much virtuosity might necessarily entail a slumbering weight on the film and pacing, but not so. If you can handle a bit of weirdness, Poor Things moves light as a feather, with a sprightly, if slightly frivolous, script and the best comedic acting of the year (shared with Gosling in Barbie).

85 _81%

May December (2023) - Rated 05 Mar 2024

May December is beautiful to look at and hideous to contemplate; a beautiful viper of a movie. So directly combining presentation and story makes it a vivid movie to engage with on an analytical level, but it is also wonderfully entertaining. The acting is best of the year level (Portman’s best performance?), the score is magnificent and the humor bites just right. I want to watch it again to find out what it is trying to say about our and media’s relation to truth and other hidden themes.