[Fantasia '24] A slow-burning thriller that is more interested in building relationships between characters than in developing intrigue. Without being exactly a grandparents' revenge movie, it skillfully doses the violence and is supported by a magnificent performance by Dale Dickey, a bad ass grandmother who is best not to confront. There is a portrait of the antagonistic thugs that is not clear if it has a parodic tone or if they are described as idiots, but from their appearance burying a man alive they sound like a very conventional genre trope. Therefore, the film is more interesting the closer it gets to the protagonist, being an entertaining thriller that gives everything to the talent of a veteran and great actress.
[Fantasia '24] The film manages to raise a reflection on the South Korean educational system, without rejecting it in a critical way, while building an inner world of the protagonist that is also inhabited by two dolls that are reminiscent of typical children's programs. This sunny and colorful representation of that world contrasts with the interiors in which the girl's life takes place, between her house, school and extracurricular classes. The third act directly introduces a fantasy plot that does not destabilize the dramatic balance of the rest, and provides the only way to escape a disturbing reality.
[Fantasia '24] This is one of those films that seem made for the midnight sessions of fantasy film festivals, with a dedicated audience that enjoys the gore comedy occurrences. And the director seems convinced of achieving this goal, because he sometimes lengthens some gags too much, such as the chainsaw entering the stomachs and asses of his victims. It's a film that ends up working with its silly humor and somewhat obsessed with sexual jokes. And in its particular effort to maintain the balance between absurd comedy, musical and bloody gut horror films, in the end it achieves an entertaining mix, although it lacks the wit or originality that could make it a cult film.
[Fantasia '24] The film always moves in an ambiguous terrain in which there is no difference between what is real and what is a creation of the subconscious. The fact that it always maintains this intermediate place between reality and dream (an alternative title was "The sad dreams of earthlings") allows it to have an ethereal tone in which the TerraNova desert (Canada) may not be as convincing as another planet, but it is a good representation of the psychological isolation of the characters. Divided into five parts, the director creates a science-fiction environment to talk about the ins and outs of memory and reflect on future interplanetary immigration policies.
[Fantasia '24] The directors shift from horror to a police procedural that follows two seemingly unconnected cases, amidst a hostile environment in the Vosges Mountains. There is a dark atmosphere and a certain coldness in the exposition of the crimes that contributes to a disturbing tone that manages to maintain suspense. Although the story uses the most common elements of the genre, making the investigators archetypal and the dialogues somewhat basic. But there are some relationships between characters and that reference to the legend of the soul-eater that brings concern to an interesting new collaboration between both directors.
[Fantasia '24] There doesn't seem to be an intention to maintain too much mystery about the father figure, even if the viewer, by adopting the film only his daughter's point of view, has partial or unreliable information. This serves to provide a justification for the story and how it develops when it becomes clear that what it is trying to tell is a metaphor, but it is disappointing when it decides to explain it clearly, when the true capacity for attention that the film achieves is precisely when it remains in a terrain in which fantasy and reality merge. At least it maintains a well-constructed narrative and a staging that contributes to the ethereal tone, with the setting of a lonely and worn-out house that seems steeped in a long family tradition or the soundtrack, that gives the story a unique tone of folk horror and traditional fable. There are therefore interesting contributions in a film that uses genre elements to delve into human psychology.
A characteristic thriller from Vicky McClure: a protagonist character who faces a personal drama, wrapped in a dull story that tries to maintain interest with some script twists, but ends up developing in a chaotic way. The story tries to strike a balance between the jump scare terror of dark hallways and psychological drama, but all the elements are too predictable and it has an inconsistent and absurd ending. Not even the actress's commitment to the story can save it from the most absolute torpor.
[Fantasia '24] The film abounds in the treatment of school bullying as a story of revenge, in which violence can only be combated with more violence, and in this case, exercised by a teacher on her student, which is more debatable. However, it works well as a foray into the fighting genre, with good choreographies and adequate character development, although some are neglected along the way. Some interesting questions reflect how harassment is fundamentally based on social differences and how the accomplices of harassers find themselves in a vicious circle in which they have to be abusers to avoid being abused.
[Fantasia '24] This is a textbook slasher, within the Christmas horror subgenre, which the Australian director wraps in her characteristic style of saturated colors that offer an almost dreamlike vision of reality. Although gender issues are not the central part of the film, they are very present not only due to the prominence of actress Jeremy Moineau, whose presence stands out among a cast that offers irregular performances, but also because of the personal baggage that Lola incorporates. As usually happens in the films of Alice Maio Mackay, this latest film offers a very personal foray into the horror genre, which connects better with the classics of the police mystery.
[Fantasia '24] The fact that the film is constructed as a mixture of fantasy and reality shows the personal and unreliable narration of Alan, whose stories may or may not be credible, but never distort the description of a deep love story that ends up wrapped in a fairy tale environment, and the exploration of grief in the face of the disappearance of a loved one. Its narrative construction as a mosaic of genres, never strictly documentary, is one of the virtues of a film that talks about love and loss, and that moves between reality and fiction like the world created by the protagonist.
[Fantasia '24] One of those surprises that are found in the retrospectives of film festivals. Shot on a low budget and with a creative freedom that leaves room for improvisation, this story of a criminal gang in the underworld of Montreal is clearly influenced by the films of John Cassavetes and Paul Morrissey. The two main actors and screenwriters ended up connected to David Cronenberg's films, but in this case they offer a story that portrays an artistic community related to the sale of drugs, which proposes a redefinition of the traditional family. And with excellent songs by the also forgotten Canadian singer Lewis Furey.
[Fantasia '24] Self-defined as "an oriental western action film", it has an attractive premise that ends up developing chaotically and with few positive results in its intended absurd humor. During the first half hour, the viewer adjusts to the introduction of cartoonish characters, fake beards, bright colors in which the greenish yellows of the desert predominate, as if it were Wes Anderson, and a narrative that alternates different plots that come together in one alone. But it ends up being a disappointing experience because it ends up absorbed by the irrelevance of its proposal and the limited seductive capacity of its development.
[Fantasia '24] This apocalyptic fable is fueled by the construction of an imaginary environment with elements of science fiction, fairy tales and bestiary imagery, creating a unique and absorbing experience, but also a thoughtful consideration about the future of a world that we are subjecting to so many impacts. It is, at the same time, a very referential cinematographic work, which can recall concepts discussed by filmmakers such as the Quay Brothers and Jan Švankmajer, but also profoundly new in its capacity to be open to different ways of representing and narrating a story.
[Fantasia '24] Living up to its title, this feature film remains cryptic throughout, without giving too many explanations about what is happening, although metaphors are deployed about the insecurities of a woman who distances herself from herself, whose house It has an impersonal aspect, and about the discovery of a wilder sexuality that reflects a state of alienation. Between the search for an identity and the discovery of a primitive and slimy sexuality, it seems that, despite actress Chloe Pirrie's obvious commitment to her character, the film gets too lost in its own aesthetic.
It manages to craft a story about a toxic relationship that is united through music with a surprising ability to prevent it from falling into conventional romantic melodrama. The two lead performers create complex, nuanced personalities, and even the elaboration of the musical numbers is appealing even if you're not a country music fan, because the songs describe their lives. But above all, John Hillcoat's direction achieves a balance and homogeneity in the narrative that makes it a profound description of two tragic characters.
It wants to be so spectacular that it seems like a B series, closer to the Italian peplum of the sixties than to prestige TV. Roland Emmerich has never directed the action scenes worse, especially the chariot race. Meanwhile, Anthony Hopkins does what he can with what he has, in the midst of a cast that is incapable of giving the slightest credibility to his characters. Not that much was expected from this adaptation, but at least something more decent than what is offered.
[tv+] A double story that intersects to show the ramifications of social minorities in Baltimore in the sixties, if it is accepted that a Jewish protagonist is considered despised at the same level as an African-American woman at that time. It is an adaptation directed by Alma Har'el with episodes of too pretentious staging and visuals, which get lost in the parallel plots just as the novel was lost in the different points of view. And with a protagonist who, despite Natalie Portman's efforts, never becomes too interesting.
[tv+] Although apparently it is a light and superficial comedy about the protagonist's obsession with entering the circles of Palm Beach high society, the shadow of Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War is always in the background, despite through radio and television, in black and white, which serves as a contrast between the colorful staging of Florida beaches and the darkness of the political ins and outs that are handled in Washington. The series is fun and apparently superficial, but it provides an interesting vision of a world of appearances that lives with its back to reality.
A new series by Steven Moffat that restores a certain narrative pulse with a first part that seems to refer to the sarcasm of "W1A" (BBC, 2015-2020), but that will be more convincing to those who find "Inside man" credible ( Netflix, 2022). The third episode is an excellent exercise in writing and performing, which reveals the theatrical origin of the project, but which is sustained in a permanent tension, to develop in the end a message that seems more motivated by what is expected from a series like this that for a personal conviction.
[Annecy '24] Using Alexeïeff-Parker's pinscreen animation technique, the Quebec director makes a short film based in the painting dedicated by the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez to Mariana of Austria. This exquisite work is presented as a cinematographic poem that is endowed with a dreamlike intangibility provided by the animation technique, and that uses some elements of the paintings to give them life and represent the prison of an existence dedicated since adolescence to gestation, role of women within the Spanish royal family and the brief space that the pages of History dedicate to it.
[Annecy '24] With an animation style on oil painting similar to that of veteran director Florence Miailhe, this story reflects on colonialism and the cultural clash between the inhabitants of a small African coastal town and the French settlers, in the process of decolonization. It is a story that unfolds slowly but visually has a very attractive texture, with an intelligent use of colors in the scenes that take place outside, and a wide range of blues and greens when the French officer enters in the jungle, which gives off a sensation of humidity and heat. The main character goes from being someone who questions to someone who learns to listen and adapts to the environment. Colonization is presented as a historical reality that is reflected today, from which cultural and social aspects have been inherited.
Taking as a more obvious reference war comedies such as M*A*S*H (CBS, 1972-1985), but also Hogan's Heroes (CBS, 1965-1971), the sense of humor is absurd, sometimes a little silly and with a strange fixation on the size of penises. It's the type of shows that can provoke as many positive comments as negative reactions, but manages to maintain a certain balance between somewhat crazy satire and an ironic look at exaggerated masculinities, represented by the military and politicians. With a cast full of guest stars, the parody works better when it focuses on specific characters than when it takes a more general perspective.
[Annecy '24] This sumptuous and colorful short film made with digitally drawn animation uses the background of a Flower Show with a temporary Victorian-type environment that is represented in a symbolic way to offer different social comments, not only regarding the relationship of the man with nature, but also to the position that a woman is supposed to adopt within that society. The proposal established by the ambivalent forms of the characters, women with androgynous appearance and boys with feminine corporeality who dance vogue while playing cricket, offers a fun reflection on role-playing.
[Sheffield '24] Through the reflection of two versions of reality, the director establishes a contrast between the macropolitics that has created a world of violence and cruelty, and the innocence of his three-year-old son, discovering and playing in harmony with the nature of a garden. The pixelated computer images establish a connection between the Vietnam War and the Ukrainian War, the immolation of Buddhist monks against conflict and the inaction of governments towards climate change. It is an almost apocalyptic world that is reflected on the computer screen, compared to the more innocent and harmonious reality that the director captures with his camera in his family environment.
[Annecy '24] Combining pencil and ink drawings, Henri Michaux's poetry mixes with his facet as a painter in such a way that it creates a free inspiration to build a stylized audiovisual piece that combines the text with figures that move between the words . With the voice of French actor Denis Lavant reciting the poet's texts, this beautiful short film takes on a hypnotic tone, and is built from an idea of reinvention of words that sometimes have to transcend written language.
An urgent documentary that uses statistical data and many examples of scientific research that reveal the poisoning that human beings have created for themselves and for the entire planet. The approach is based on an investigation by the scientific journalist Ziya Tong, but her constant presence causes the film to lack the cinematic tone it should have to resemble a television report too much. However, the topic is important and highlights the importance of a change of mentality to face a reality that can become a danger for the human organism itself.
[Annecy '24] An emotional story about the relationship between a father and son as he prepares to leave his home in the Murcian countryside. By choosing the stop-motion technique, the story achieves a three-dimensional texture that offers a realistic envelope, with careful decoration of the interior of the house, which meticulously reproduces the director's family home. The cinematography provides pale toned colors, contrasting the darkness of the interior of the house with the luminosity of the exterior, the field in which father and son go hunting for the last time before separation.
[Max] Without abandoning the conventional path of biopics, the most interesting thing about the show is the perspective it adopts from the personal point of view of Cris Miró and how she wants to be perceived by her surroundings, even if she has to sacrifice certain personal aspects. Facing limited resources, the series delves deeper into her character and allows for some notable performances such as that of Mina Serrano and, above all, Katja Alemann, who gives many nuances to the character of her mother. In the midst of so many. uninspired biopics, this one manages to be inspiring.
[Annecy '24] A fable about the relationship between man and nature through a black and white pencil drawing that shows backgrounds captured in detail. Without dialogue, the visual concept presents a disruptive approach in which the characters move in a lateral movement, which already proposes a distorted reality, which is underlined by the presence of a river otter, a symbolic representation of a species that disappeared. in Japan in 2012, due to economic growth. The presence of this animal is a metaphor for man's relationship with nature and the sacrifices that modernization has caused in numerous species.
It seems like it wants to be "Top boy" (Netflix, 2011-2023) but introducing superpowers as a different element. The problem is that it is not interesting either as a drama about street gangs and characters who face moral challenges, or as a story about normal citizens facing powers they don't know how to control. It is halfway to everything without being relevant to anything, a mixture that doesn't work together because, simply, none of its plots work separately.
