If you are a regular reader, firstly, cheers for reading! Secondly, you will know I am not shy to rate some proper B, C or Z movies highly, as long as they know what they are and I manage to have fun with them. That’s why I would never call myself a movie critic. Before watching this film, I hoped I could put that hat on while watching Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. There were some moments I was able to enjoy myself (mainly the last fight in Rio), but most things before that just felt unnecessary, and dare I say too much. Am I really saying this movie had too much action? Yes, I do. Fuck me…

Before we proceed any further, I want to make one thing clear. I am not under the spell of Godzilla Minus One (2023, my review here). Is that a much better movie you should see rather than this Godzilla x Kong? Absolutely, no contest there. However, I knew before even sitting my ass in the cinema that Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire won’t reach the heights of that movie (well, I didn’t know, I had a hunch) because this isn’t that kind of movie. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the other monster movie, where one big monster smashes stuff, fights other big monsters that smash more stuff, then they team up for reasons I still fully don’t understand and smash this third monster. The end. I knew this would be more about how they get them fighting and how those sequences would be shot; it is here where this monster cookie would crumble for me. And this movie… surely has quite a few action scenes.

During the third or fourth action scene, this movie gave me in a relatively short time, I caught myself getting bored. If there’s one thing you don’t want to write when reviewing an action movie where two titans fight each other and then fight some other monsters, that “thing” would be the word “boring”. But the action scenes all had the same “feel”, so they all kind of blended in for me after a while; I don’t know about you, but the moment I can’t differentiate what the difference between this scene and that scene, it’s hard for me to have fun.

The only action sequence I would call “pretty good” (notice I can’t even say excellent) is the one in Rio at the very end of this movie. That fight was filmed well where I understood where everyone was, the location was well-lit (read: bright), the action felt dynamic, and even the editing wasn’t as aggressive. But honestly, I can’t think of one other action scene before that one that would stand out to me, and this movie has precisely 11.259!

The other thing is the human characters are yet again in the way, and I couldn’t care less about any of them. This is shit to write, considering Rebecca Hall, one of the most talented actresses we have today, is in this movie with Brian Tyree Henry, who I like more and more! Rebecca at least tries something, but I don’t know whether her storyline with her daughter (played by Kaylee Hottle) could have ever worked, no matter how you shoot it, considering this isn’t that kind of movie. That storyline was beautiful and impactful, but it felt out of place in a movie called Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Also, this movie made me not like Brian Tyree Henry, as he is supposed to be the comedic relief. Luckily, I know he is funny and talented, so I know this wasn’t him, but damn, they did him dirty in this movie. Almost every single thing his character said felt off, and maybe one or two jokes landed. I feel like it’s important to repeat I am not blaming either of these actors; they did the best with what have been given, and honestly, if you recast this movie with anyone else, I doubt anybody could make these lines work.

What I enjoyed, besides the Rio finale, was the mythology behind the Hollow Earth and being there. I did enjoy the scenes “below” more than I thought. I thought they did a fine job trying to tie everything together (with Skull Island, other titans, ancient tribe). Does it work if you think about it logically? No. But I can accept it in the movie, because that is what I am talking about when I say: “judge the movie based on its merits”. Those parts worked to an extent for me within the movie.

But everything else left me cold. And again, putting aside the juggernaut that was Godzilla Minus One, I still think this movie is just average. When the movie finished, I thought long and hard about whether I had any bias towards this movie due to Godzilla Minus One. I realised I didn’t because even if I compare this film to something “basic, yet entertaining” like Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023, my review here), I enjoyed that movie much more than this one due to the action scenes feeling different. I still remember most action scenes because they weren’t choppy; most of them were shot in a way where you could always understand where everybody was. In this movie, I don’t think it’s the case, and again, it’s never a good sign when action scenes start to blend in with each other after some time.

Overall, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is an okay movie that has one pretty good action scene. As it became a trademark at this point, the human characters feel out of place, even if they get decent actors in these films. Most of the CGI feels the same, and halfway through the movie, you start thinking: “Yeah, I guess there is a such thing as abundance of action scenes; who could have known?” At this point, I honestly wonder whether this “monster verse” isn’t due for a reboot or, even better, a break. Ken Watanabe started it in Godzilla (2014) by saying: “Let them fight.” I think it’s time to let them sleep for a bit.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

To write: “I loved this movie” would be an understatement. Unlike many, I haven’t seen the (often criticised) trailers that “sold” some people a different movie. I have heard some things about it and then watched Cord Jefferson winning an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, but unfortunately, I didn’t catch it until a few weeks after that. When I sat down to finally watch it, I had some expectations (due to the Oscar win), and honestly, they were not only met, they were exceeded. American Fiction is a layered and smart film that isn’t afraid to show you and not spell everything out for you.

This movie tackles one of the biggest “hot topics” people talk about nowadays – representation, especially “black stories”. But it goes about it differently than you might expect, and that’s something I adored. American Fiction is self-aware but never strays from what it wants to say. The movie’s message (at least how I understood it) is that there are no “black stories” but rather stories with black people from all different creeds and backgrounds. Therefore, it is wrong and ignorant to try and lump them together based on the skin colour of the author. The perfect example is the bookshop scene, where Jeffrey Wright finds his book in the section “African-American Studies” and he says to the assistant: “The blackest thing about this book is the ink.” But since he is a professor, writer and Black person, his book goes under that section, no questions asked.

The main thing about American Fiction is the sentiment this film brilliantly displays, how in America, the general society has been so integrated that these stereotypes (although some might come from good places) are and can be hurtful. Are there still racial issues in America, or the world, for that matter? Yes, you bet, neither I nor this film says: “We’ve done it, everybody! Racism has been solved!” But the more nuanced point this movie makes is how when you focus on race a bit too much, more often than not, you let some other biases associated with that race step in and then make (many times questionable) decisions based on those. As a white man, I never understood when people spoke about “black stories”. Again, what might have started from a good place quickly turned into trying to simplify and lump ALL black people into one group. And no group is a monolith.

That is why I loved how this movie didn’t get caught in this trap and was split between our protagonist writing his “masterpiece” whilst pretending to be this “street criminal”, but the more we spend on him, his family and the complex relationship he had with everyone. That is when the brilliance of this movie is on display as we get the truly complex story of one family that kinda (?) gets along, but there are many issues. It would be so easy to stick with the book part of this movie and make fun of how white people just want to be absolved rather than appreciate art made by black people, and there are scenes of that nature. However, the movie understands that this could quickly become a bit self-indulgent; therefore, we spend more time exploring this generational trauma and real characters within this family unit. Not one person is good or bad; they are just people.

I have already mentioned Jeffrey Wright, and I couldn’t be happier when he got his first Oscar nomination for this movie. Ever since I saw him on Boardwalk Empire (2010 – 2014), I have been a big fan, and I always knew the day would come when he would get noticed by the Academy. I hope it won’t stay with just this one time. He has been a remarkable actor, and every time I see his name attached to a movie, I know he will deliver. Sterling K. Brown portrays his brother, who has some issues, and Sterling is another one of those actors who seems to be having a moment where he seems to be everywhere. I also couldn’t be happier because, just like Jeffrey, he always brings a level of quality to any movie. I want to give a special shout-out to Erika Alexander, who portrays the love interest, but she is so much more because the movie/script allows her to be much more. I also loved how this movie dealt with their relationship. Without getting into spoilers, I thought everything about it felt realistic and correct.

Where the movie got me was the plotline with Issa Rae and her book “We’s Lives in Da Ghetto”. In another clever twist, you never know where Issa’s character stands; all you can see is Thelonious’ hate for that book. As he learns more about Issa’s character Sintara, he starts questioning himself, leading to a confrontation between these two authors. That scene was brilliant and underlined how nuanced this movie is and how we all, Black people included, have our biases towards others. But it’s only when you speak to other people and get their point of view that you realise that there are only a few things that are “black or white”. Many things, issues, and people, whether white, black or purple, are different shades of grey, and, most importantly, come from various backgrounds, live diverse lives and therefore have different experiences. And just because you have not had that experience, it doesn’t make them any less valid.

I hope American Fiction becomes a classic because we can always use a clever, subversive movie about a complex subject. Cord Jefferson wrote and directed this movie, and I know this will be hard for him to top, but I can’t wait to see what he does next. I hope his Oscar win will help me secure future funding for whatever he wants to do; I will be there. His Oscar speech, by the way, about giving young and new people a chance and making movies for less money, should be carved in stone.

Overall, American Fiction is an excellent movie that surprised me in every aspect. I didn’t even know what I expected, but I got much more than I could ever ask for. This movie highlighted important things, some actors that were long overdue for exposure, and it will, hopefully, be remembered for years to come. On top of all that, this movie is genuinely hilarious, and that is one of the many reasons it never felt preachy, and the almost two-hour runtime just flew by. American Fiction is one of the best movies of 2023 by far.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I thought it looked great, mainly due to the “Spider-Versication” of it all. Just like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023, my review here), this movie looks unique; the animation isn’t “flawless”, but that is what makes it stand out, and I am happy that studios started to take chances and some animated movies look differently than what we’ve been used to for a while now. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a fun time with our beloved teenage turtles who just happen to be ninjas too, and I thought the movie did many things right.

The main thing is the voice casting and how all the main guys voicing the turtles recorded their lines in a group at the same time, which is something that’s not common at all in this industry because you can’t manipulate/edit the audio as well when you have other people in the room. But that risky choice paid off and created this feeling that our heroes have chemistry. They often talk over each other, just like teenagers; they talk about new stuff relevant to this generation… This might be the first feature film with turtles set in the current time, with all the smartphones, apps, lingo, and it feels different from any other TMNT movie I have seen. Combine that with that unique animation style, and those two facts make two big plusses in my book.

What I also liked was the main crux of the story and how these teenagers are forced to make a tough moral choice that feels contradictory to their experience. From the start of the movie, we can see our heroes hiding in the shadows because they were taught to be afraid of humans, so when other mutants show up and plan to make all the animals into mutants, they would become the dominant species, and that would result in no more hiding… I will tell you, I would be tempted by that offer, just as our heroes are. So, despite them acting and talking like teenagers, the movie has our heroes dealing with tough decisions and making them learn lessons along the way, without feeling forced or out of place.

The only thing that stopped me from being immersed fully in this film was that nothing surprises you. Yes, I was surprised by the main story and the themes a bit, but then everything goes precisely as you would expect, which is fair; it’s a “kids’ movie”. But then, we take a look at the action sequences, and although the animation style was unique, I didn’t think the action scenes were all that entertaining. That will be the main issue for many animated movies following the success of Spider-Verse movies; no matter where you stand on those, the action is immaculate, and the blend of different animation styles looks effortless. Here, the action was messy at times, and some scenes were a bit darker than I would have liked, making it harder to see what was happening.

But, I would like to say that I have enjoyed my time, and I would love to get a sequel. I liked everything else about this movie, and I think as far as world-building is concerned, the movie set up most, if not all, characters well where I can imagine the sequel being even better than the original since now we are over the introduction part and we could get “wild”. We could jump into the next adventure with a few more characters (no spoilers) that intrigued me, and I can see this becoming a trilogy even as long as all the creative people are back; I would have no issues with that.

Overall, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a fun time with the characters you might know, but updated for the modern-day audience of teenagers today. The animation style is quirky, the story is surprisingly rich, and I had fun with it despite it not presenting anything new and some action not being up to par. Nevertheless, I would still recommend this movie, and I hope a sequel or two is coming our way because I can easily imagine more good stuff coming out of this world.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

If there’s anything better than a court drama, it’s a unique court drama we don’t get that often. Most court dramas are great, but more often than not, they aren’t as unique because most of the time, the lines are clearly drawn between the heroes and villains. And that’s where Anatomy of a Fall comes in. It dares to ask the burning question: “What if nothing is as black or white?” It grips you for almost two and a half hours and won’t let you go.

The best compliment I can give to this movie is this. Imagine you watch this film with two other people. When the movie ends, all three of you can have different ideas of what happened, and you can discuss why you think your theory is better than the other two. There is a fine line between leaving the audience to have their interpretations and just leaving them hanging because we didn’t finish the ending. But this movie is cold, calculating and precise in the best way.

Without giving too much away, this movie is about a family living in the middle of nowhere. The husband falls and dies, and we spend the entire film going through everything, from a great recreation scene to many excellent courtroom scenes to the ending that just underlines everything well. But the main point is how we can quickly jump to a conclusion based on one fight we heard from a day before, how everything goes from there, where every decision is being re-examined through the lens of them being at their worst. This is where Anatomy of a Fall shines; it makes you think about how often we think we know things (for example, about celebrities) based on tiny slivers of their online presence, and based on our perception, we then look to confirm our preconceived bias towards that celebrity (if we like her, we love everything, if we don’t, everything that celebrity does is “the worst” by default), not realising that we don’t know them and what they are dealing with.

What a year 2023 was for Sandra Hüller. As if being nominated for the best leading actress wasn’t enough, she appears in another Oscar-winning movie from 2023, The Zone of Interest, which I can’t wait to watch. What she does in this movie is brilliant because it almost feels like she isn’t acting. Her character feels so real I felt, at times, as if I watched a documentary rather than a narrative movie. She knows how to make those little moments sing; her speech about how she loved her husband and would never kill him was pure perfection. I really hope she will get some brilliant scripts offered because I can see that we have not seen her “peak”, and I can’t wait to witness it because I adored her in this movie.

Who I don’t think is getting as much praise as he should have had is Milo Machado-Graner. He portrays Sandra’s son and the unfortunate key witness, although not really. Do you feel bad for kids of divorce and how ugly it can get for them when “mommy and daddy fight”? Well, imagine if mommy is on trial, being the only suspect of killing daddy, and now, he gets to hear all the dirty, nasty stuff they said to each other. His performance was so pure in the first half and almost adult-like towards the end. Some point to those scenes saying he felt like the classic example of a kid actor being written by adults, but I don’t think that’s fair. We can see that it’s been over a year since this accident, and the trial, I believe, takes a few weeks. I thought he was just forced to grow up much faster than other kids, just as it happens with some kids of divorce when you have to put your childhood aside because you recognise you are needed. Is it fair? No. Is it necessary? Unfortunately. His final court appearance and speech were perfect. I won’t say what happens, but you aren’t sure about anything after that, beginning with whether he is being truthful or not.

And that was the brilliance of this movie. Anatomy of a Fall is, on the surface, a courtroom drama, whodunit, if you will. But in reality, the movie almost doesn’t give a fuck about that, and it’s much more focused on different themes. Like all the men witnesses present a strong case against Sandra’s character, but all the women’s witnesses present a strong case for her. This movie explores the themes of guilt by proxy (as her lawyer says: “That’s not the point, you are his wife, so you are the suspect.“) and, most importantly, how the verdict doesn’t change much. This movie shows us openly that no matter what happens, for some, you will always be guilty or not guilty without spelling it out for you.

Everything about Anatomy of a Fall feels just right. It’s not a short movie by any means, but I can’t imagine a scene not being there because everything compliments each other. There is little to no score because it is in the silence where this movie shouts the most. There is also a great dog performance that can’t be understated, and his key scene was brilliant. I was so happy to see Messi (that’s the dog’s name) at the 2024 Oscars (link here). My point is I don’t have anything negative to say. This movie left me thinking about everything I just saw, and throughout it, I thought I knew for certain what actually happened. The truth is, I don’t know. Nobody does besides Sandra, and whether her character is guilty or not, she will have to live with this for the rest of her life.

Overall, Anatomy of a Fall is a brilliant film. It doesn’t spoon-feed you anything; it relies on you navigating these grey areas, where nobody in this movie is a good person or a “hero” in the old-fashioned way. This movie showcases flawed individuals and one of those just so happens to be on trial for that. As I mentioned in the beginning, there are three different theories you can come up with about what happened, each as probable as the next one, and it’s only up to you where you land. I landed in “I love this movie.”

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

When I got into films, I spent hours reading through different lists of “best of all time” movies, reading various discussion forums where people would talk about classics, and, surprisingly, this movie wasn’t mentioned much. I think the first time I remember hearing about The Red Shoes was regarding La La Land (2016) and how certain scenes took inspiration from this movie. And it’s one of those effects when you notice something, and suddenly, it seems to appear everywhere you look. This movie was referenced by more lists and people. So I bought a stunning, steel book BluRay and one morning decided to watch it. I didn’t expect what followed.

I have always been vocal about not having a genre I would hate. But, as with every rule, there is a minor exception, and for me, that is historical, costume drama movies. I can’t say I hate them, but if there were a genre I tend to struggle with the most as far as liking the films and appreciating them, that would be “it”. And although The Red Shoes is technically not that (it’s a movie about a ballet ensemble set around the time of this movie’s release), I would count it in that category simply because the ballet element makes it seem like it. Therefore, I was slightly afraid of the outcome and how I, yet again, won’t be able to relate to these characters and their problems because most of those movies are about “they love each other, but they can’t get married” or “our families hate each other, but we love each other”… You know the drill, something we’ve managed to solve in our modern times. Boy, was I wrong.

Before I start gushing about how beautiful and well-crafted this movie is, I must gush about how well the theme and the story aged. This film is based on a fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen, which is something I didn’t know until I finished the film. Yeah, for some reason, this fairytale didn’t travel “worldwide” as some of his other ones, as I have never heard of it. But upon learning that fact, I was less shocked about “ageing well”, as most of his fairytales do. Yes, they are darker than your average one, but the moral lessons behind them are mostly as relevant today as they were in his time. And with The Red Shoes, the idea of compromising on your talent, “only” being the second best, how far are you willing to go, and what are you willing to sacrifice to be the best… Those are themes well-known to most of us to an extent. I was so immersed in this movie that even the ending shocked me (although, thinking about it, it was so obvious how it had to end that way) because I just wasn’t expecting it, although I should have. That’s one of the marks of a brilliant movie when something happens, and you don’t expect it, only for you to think to yourself moments later: “Wait, don’t be a dumb ass; the entire movie was leading to this moment!”

I try to limit speaking in superlatives, but this movie must be one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. From how every scene is staged and framed to the camera work, everything works and looks stunning. We start this movie following this ballet group, and when Moira Shearer joins, they start to practice The Red Shoes ballet. We see everything from the planning to the practice, and it’s only halfway through this movie we see the performance itself. And those 15/20 minutes are just cinema in its purest form. We see her perspective of living in the fairytale; we can see the audience’s perspective, and it all looks beautiful. On top of that, there are many inventive things, and that’s when you remember this movie was released in 1948! This film is well over 70 years old, and the way these key moments are filmed is simply breathtaking. The camera angles, the soundtrack, how everything compliments each other, and it literally sings on the screen… Simply exceptional.

How do you top that scene when you still have almost half of the movie left after? You don’t; that’s why you make us care about every character and their journey. Everyone in this movie felt like a real character, from the side characters to our titular trio. I was invested in their story, journey and how it ultimately pans out. I also would love to point out that Moira Shearer wasn’t a trained actress because she was a classically trained ballet dancer and second in the world at that time! And yet, when you watch her in this movie (her feature debut, nonetheless!), she is great. She sells the emotions, she doesn’t overact and the ballet… The fact she was number two in the entire world speaks for itself. The directing duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were lucky to stumble upon not only an exquisite ballerina but one who could act as well as Moira could. And given we have seen many more attempts to switch professions (whether it’s from sports personality, singing, or modelling) to acting, and they all don’t work out, I would say this is absurdly lucky how much they won with Moira.

I knew I watched something special right after the movie ended, and I have had zero complaints. Let me remind you that I would still classify this movie as “historical drama”, meaning me having zero complaints is near miraculous. But The Red Shoes is that good. When I watched it, there were scenes that somehow reminded me why I fell in love with movies in the first place, from their ability to transport me in time to a specific place and time and be part of this group of people I have never met. This movie made me feel like that and much more; it let me in so much that I forgot about some narrative and was just “happy to be there”. It also reminded me that I don’t hate these historical dramas when done right.

Overall, The Red Shoes is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. The entire movie is excellent, but then the actual Red Shoes ballet starts, and somehow, this movie goes from 10 to 20. If you love historical dramas, you will love this film. If you enjoy beautifully shot and restored Technicolor movies and how the colour pops out on the screen, you will adore this film. To put it simply, if you love movies, you will love this film.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke