Film Dictionary

October 26, 2024

Anora (2024) *****

Sean Baker's greatest film to date, a tarantinesque mix of "Pretty Woman" and "After Hours", starring Mikey Madison in a fearless performance as a tough-as-nails hooker who sees her Cinderella dreams crashing and burning in the most unexpected ways.

October 10, 2024

Flow (2024) ****

Fabulous animated feature from Latvia. It's the story of a cat whose life is upended by a massive flood, leading to an unexpected and touching alliance with a diverse group of animals: a capybara, a bird, a lemur, and a dog. Not unlike "Ponyo" (2009) and "Life Of Pi" (2012), but surprisingly different in a variety of ways.

The Seed Of The Sacred Fig (2024) ****

Set during the anti-hijab protests in Iran, it's a tense, surprising drama about an investigative judge who finds himself in a tug-of-war against his wife and two daughters. The film was secretly shot in Iran by dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof, who is now wanted by the police in his own country, where he has been sentenced to eight years in prison, flogging, a fine and the confiscation of property. However, he managed to escape from Iran to attend the Cannes Film Festival, where he received a Special Award for his film.

Emilia Perez (2024) ****

Surprising and amazing French film set in Mexico, with a story straight out of a Latin American telenovela, stunning musical numbers, a powerful political message and superlative acting performances from Karla Sofia Gascon, Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldana and Adriana Paz (who all won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival).

September 9, 2024

The Substance (2024) ***

Excellent body horror movie starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley.

Civil War (2024) ***

The film tries hard to hide its political message, but there are more than enough hints as to where its actual sympathies lie. Nick Offerman's president is a barely disguised Donald Trump, Jesse Plemons' genocidal soldier doesn't need to carry a tiki torch to be easily identifiable, and the numerous mentions of Charlottesville aren't subtle at all. A weird (and unlikely) alliance between Texas and California aside, it's basically an anti-MAGA allegory masquerading as an anti-war one.

Drive-Away Dolls (2024) ***

Enjoyable comedy about two lesbians crossing paths with a group of inept criminals.

Challengers (2024) ***

Perverse drama about a love triangle involving two tennis champions.

August 30, 2024

Kinds Of Kindness (2024) *****

Yorgos Lanthimos' greatest film to date, a constantly surprising cinematic puzzle of the highest order.

August 8, 2024

Le Successeur (2024) **

French thriller set in Canada. There is one huge and memorable surprise in this film, but some of its plot twists just aren't believable.

July 7, 2024

Eight Postcards From Utopia (2024) ***

Excellent and amusing film consisting entirely of found-footage assembled out of post-socialist Romanian advertisements. Brilliantly edited.

Kalak (2024) ***

Excellent Danish drama set in Greenland.

Dahomey (2024) ***

Fascinating documentary about the repatriation of 26 royal treasures from France to Benin.

Grand Tour (2024) **

A strange journey across Asia. Winner of the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Girl With The Needle (2024) *

Depressing Danish drama about miserable people suffering from unhappiness.

Una Historia de amor y guerra (2024) *

Very silly Mexican comedy that tries very hard to be some kind of allegory of the tragic destiny of that country, but fails miserably.

May 5, 2024

Nos belles-soeurs (2024) ***

A musical adaptation of Michel Tremblay's famous play.

Jour de chasse (2024) *

A Canadian thriller that tries so hard to make some sort of a statement about racism and sexism that it almost forgets about suspense and thrills.

1995 (2024) **

Autobiographical comedy about a young Canadian filmmaker trying to make a short movie in Egypt.

Ababouiné (2024) ***

A very peculiar Canadian black comedy about a revolt of Catholic schoolchildren against their religious teachers, set in a poor Montreal neighbourhood in the 1950's. One of the best films by Andre Forcier, an enfant terrible of the French Canadian cinema.

April 4, 2024

Taste (2024) ***

Jaw-dropping music video starring Sabrina Carpenter and Jenna Ortega. Gory and hilarious.

Please Please Please (2024) ***

Another great music video from Sabrina Carpenter.

Like A Good Neighbaaa (2024) ***

Hilarious State Farm commercial making fun of Arnold Schwarzenegger's accent.

Espresso (2024) ***

A stunning videoclip by Sabrina Carpenter.

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (2024) ***

Tense short film about courage. Winner of the Palm d'or for best short film at the Cannes Film Festival.

Sing: Thriller (2024) ***

Excellent pastiche of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video.

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (2024) ***

A Halloween special with Sideshow Bob (Kelsey Grammer) singing with Simpsons, Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars characters.

March 3, 2024

Baby Reindeer (2024) ***

One of the most talked about TV series of 2024, based on a true story.

Fallout (2024) ***

Exciting post-apocalyptic TV series about half of humanity surviving in underground shelters and the other half fighting for survival on the surface.

Agatha All Along (2024) ***

Surprising TV series about witches, hexes, covens and spells.

Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer (2024) ***

"You can't go around apologizing for jokes. They're jokes. So I've got a plan. The next time I get cancelled over a joke, the next time I upset people with a joke, I'm gonna come out on the day of the cancellation, I'm gonna make a statement, a public statement. I'm gonna say, I've rehearsed this, I'm gonna say 'I'm SORRY!' And the people I've offended will say 'You don't really mean that apology.' And I'll say 'So you're saying I can say something and not mean it.' Now you're getting it."

February 2, 2024

Dune: Part Two (2024) **

Slightly better than the first part.

Else (2024) **

Belgian horror movie. Visually interesting, but ultimately disappointing.

January 1, 2024

Argylle (2024) *

Except for a terrific dance sequence with Dua Lipa and Henry Cavill at the very beginning of the film, this is a truly awful spy comedy starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell.