Film Dictionary

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) **

An uneven TV series about witches, hexes, covens and spells. The first episode is very good (and surprising), but the other ones are quite confusing.

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."

Hacks: Season 3 (2024) ***

A fine TV series starring Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder and Lorenza Izzo.

Sugar (2024) ***

Stylish TV series about a private detective, directed by Fernando Meirelles.

Birth (2024) ***

Excellent adult film about a pregnant woman (Casey Calvert).

Landman: Season 1 (2024) ***

Fine TV series starring Billy Bob Thornton, set in West Texas.

Rivals (2024) ***

Eccentric British TV series about politics, journalism and sex.

Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval (2024) ***

Ellen DeGeneres’s reckoning with her cancellation. You can’t help but admire the chutzpah when she brackets her recent excommunication with the one she suffered when she came out as lesbian 23 years earlier.

Ancient Apocalypse: The Americas (2024) ***

A fascinating journey into the past of Easter Island, Sacsayhuaman, Pueblo Bonito, Palenque and other mysterious places.

Cien años de soledad (2024) ***

Colombian TV series based on the celebrated novel by Gabriel García Márquez.

The Perfect Couple (2024) ***

A murder mystery on Nantucket Island, starring Nicole Kidman as a novelist whose son is getting married. Directed by Susanne Bier.

Squid Game: Season 2 (2024) ***

The second season of the famous Netflix series from South Korea. Quite impressive overall, but the last episode is disappointing, and the ending is way too abrupt.

Bridgerton: Season 3 (2024) *

The third season of the "naked Jane Austen with a diverse cast" Netflix series. Just as superficial as the previous ones.

Evil: Season 4 (2024) ***

The last season of the TV series that examines the origins of evil along the dividing line between science and religion.

Disclaimer (2024) ***

Very interesting (and very sexy) TV series directed by Alfonso Cuaron.

Shogun (2024) ***

Impressive historical epic drama about power struggles in early 17th century Japan.

A Simple Silence (2024) ***

My Brilliant Friend: Season 4 (2024) ***

The final season of the celebrated Italian TV series.

Dating Naked UK (2024) ***

A Paramount+ TV show about single men and women baring all on a tropical island in the hopes of finding love without modern world complications getting in the way.

Un Soir avec les Impressionnistes Paris 1874 (2024) *****

Niepewnosc (2024) ***

Polish TV series about a young poet and his erotic adventures in the early 19th century.

February 2, 2024

Dune: Part Two (2024) **

Slightly better than the first part.

Alien: Romulus (2024) **

This is the ninth film in the franchise, following "Alien" (1979), "Aliens" (1986), "Alien 3" (1992), "Alien Resurrection" (1997), "Alien Vs Predator" (2004), "Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem" (2007), "Prometheus" (2012) and "Alien: Covenant" (2017).

The Wild Robot (2024) **

Sentimental animated film about a robot raising an orphaned gosling.

Twisters (2024) **

Daisy Edgar-Jones gives a terrific performance is this otherwise routine disaster film set in Oklahoma.

Inside Out 2 (2024) **

An underwhelming sequel to the superb Pixar animated feature from 2015. There are many more emotions this time around, but the story is far less clever.

Sing Sing (2024) **

A prison drama starring Colman Domingo.

Else (2024) **

A Belgian horror movie. Visually interesting, but hardly memorable.

Queer (2024) ***

Excellent adaptation of William S. Burroughs' autobiographical novel about a gay American writer living in Mexico City in the early 1950's.

A Real Pain (2024) **

Ambitious, but flawed film about two American cousins visiting Poland.

January 1, 2024

Moana 2 (2024) *

A very dull sequel to the 2016 Disney hit.

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes (2024) *

A few exciting action sequences lost among hours of tedious monotony.

The Six Triple Eight (2024) *

Historical drama about a real-life US Army battalion during WWII, composed entirely of African-American women. Tyler Perry directs this film with a grace of an elephant in a china shop; his failed attempts to approximate prestige-picture gravitas are quite uncomfortable to watch, even though he’s dealing with genuinely inspiring and potentially fascinating material.

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.

Maria (2024) *

A boring Maria Callas biopic, directed by Pablo Larrain. Curiously, this otherwise talented filmmaker fails rather miserably every time he tries to make a realistic movie about famous people ("Neruda", "Jackie", "Spencer"), while succeeding splendidly with more surrealistic and fanciful subjects (like "Ema" and "El Conde").

Gladiator II (2024) *

A weak sequel to the Oscar-winning "sword-and-sandal" epic from 2000, directed again by Ridley Scott. Predictable and dull.

Nickel Boys (2024) *

Very odd and very pretentiously directed film, that somehow became some critics' darling. But it fails to connect on any level, emotional or intellectual. Way too abstract for its own good.