Dune: Part Two
Similar2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), 2046 (2004), A Clockwork Orange (1971), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Ben-Hur (1959), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987),
Blade Runner (1982) Dances with Wolves (1990), Dr. No (1962), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Fantomas vs. Scotland Yard (1967), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Jaws: The Revenge (1987), King Kong (2005),
Live and Let Die (1973) Mars Attacks! (1996), Metropolis (1927), Momo (1986), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Predator (1987),
Shaft (2000) Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), Solaris (1972), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), Stalker (1979), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Generations (1994), Superman Returns (2006), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), The Fifth Element (1997), The Handmaid's Tale (1990), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Road (2009), The Thirteenth Floor (1999), War of the Worlds (2005), You Only Live Twice (1967),
Watch afterAmerican Fiction (2023), Anatomy of a Fall (2023), Dune (2021), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), Poor Things (2023),
StarringBabs Olusanmokun, Stellan Skarsgård,
Denis Villeneuve finishes his epic two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel with sprawling scope and thorny politics.
It's really a miracle that the first of Denis Villeneuve's Dune films penetrated the public consciousness as well as it did. It was released amid a worldwide pandemic; it was an IMAX-ready blockbuster that was simultaneously dropped onto people's streaming subscriptions same-day; it's based on a dense, impenetrable sci-fi novel Villeneuve patiently chose not to wholly adapt in one film. The results, blessedly, were commercial and critical success and a host of technical Oscars the following year.
That success was enough to secure Dune: Part Two, a chance for Villeneuve to complete his vision of Frank Herbert's seminal work of political science fiction. Where Part One worldbuilds, Part Two barrels down the road of its inevitable conclusion in satisfying style, even as it makes some noted changes from the novel or any previous adaptations -- some for the better, some for the worse. Continue Reading →
Snow
SimilarA Christmas Carol (1938), Apocalypse Now (1979), Batman Returns (1992), Ben-Hur (1959), Billy Elliot (2000), Brazil (1985), Contact (1997), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Finding Forrester (2000), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016), Metropolis (1927), Sahara (2005), Scrooge (1951), Shooter (2007), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Talk to Her (2002), The Apartment (1960), The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), The Holiday (2006), The Last Emperor (1987), The Party 2 (1982), The Tin Drum (1979), Wonder Boys (2000),
Watch afterAquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Interstellar (2014), Leave the World Behind (2023), Napoleon (2023),
Oppenheimer (2023) Poor Things (2023), Saltburn (2023),
J.A. Bayona directs a heartbreaking adaptation of a true-life tale of tragedy & miracles.
Though we joke about the smallest inconveniences rendering us helpless, in truth the human will to survive cannot be underestimated. When confronted with imminent death, we can and will resort to extreme means to escape it, sometimes in ways that might shock and horrify those who weren’t there. One such story was Aron Ralston, a hiker who was forced to break and cut his own arm off after he was trapped by a fallen boulder, as depicted in 2010’s 127 Hours. Another was a 1972 plane crash in the Andes mountains, after which the survivors, faced with subzero temperatures, no food, and no plant life or animals to be found, eventually resorted to cannibalism to avoid starvation.
The Andes plane crash story was adapted for film a number of times, including the trashy, exploitative Survive!, and 1993’s competently made but whitewashed Alive, in which Ethan Hawke was cast as a character named Nando Parrado. Now J.A. Bayona, whose 2012 film The Impossible was also a harrowing tale of survival, takes a turn with Society of the Snow, a gripping, heart-wrenching look at the emotional toll such an unthinkable event takes on those who somehow came out of it alive, if not exactly well. Continue Reading →
Eileen
SimilarA Christmas Carol (1938), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Apocalypse Now (1979), Basic Instinct (1992), Ben-Hur (1959),
Blade Runner (1982) Blue Velvet (1986), Brubaker (1980), Con Air (1997), Contempt (1963), Crash (1996), Cruel Intentions (1999), Cube Zero (2004), Die Hard (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990), Don't Bother to Knock (1952), Dr. No (1962), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Fargo (1996), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), From Russia with Love (1963), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Goldfinger (1964), Gone Baby Gone (2007), Just Cause (1995), La Vie en Rose (2007), Memento (2000), Metropolis (1927), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006),
Primal Fear (1996) Schindler's List (1993), Scrooge (1951), Solaris (1972), Stalker (1979), Talk to Her (2002), The 39 Steps (1935), The Departed (2006), The Devil's Rejects (2005), The Elementary Particles (2006), The Handmaid's Tale (1990), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Road (2009), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Thirteenth Floor (1999), The Tin Drum (1979), Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995), War of the Worlds (2005), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), You Only Live Twice (1967),
Watch afterAnatomy of a Fall (2023), Interstellar (2014),
Oppenheimer (2023) Poor Things (2023), Saltburn (2023), Shortcomings (2023), Society of the Snow (2023), The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023),
StudioFilm4 Productions,
Thomasin McKenzie & Anne Hathaway burn up the screen in William Oldroyd’s unsettling thriller.
Eileen will likely be lost in the holiday season shuffle among such spectacles as the upcoming Wonka and awards-friendly fare like Ferrari. On the other hand, it’s unclear under what circumstances Eileen would make a big splash. It’s an odd, occasionally off-putting little film that wouldn’t work as well as it does if not for the scorching chemistry between its two leads.
Based on Ottessa Moshfegh’s (also odd and occasionally off-putting) novel of the same name, Eileen stars Thomasin McKenzie as the titular character, a lonely young woman stuck in a miserable rut. Living in the most depressing town in Massachusetts circa 1964, Eileen is forced to take care of her alcoholic, mean-spirited father (a chilling Shea Whigham, still somehow not one of Hollywood’s biggest stars), a former cop who’s taken to waving his gun at their neighbors. Working as a secretary at a juvenile detention center, though she’s in her twenties she comes off as someone much younger, a meek and awkward child merely dressing up as an adult. Eileen also has a child’s taste for doing things like ignoring her hygiene, stuffing herself with candy, and compulsively masturbating, while maintaining a rich fantasy life involving rough sex with a detention center guard, or murdering her father. Her boredom has reached pathological levels. Continue Reading →
Dicks: The Musical
SimilarAlex Strangelove (2018),
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) Billy Elliot (2000), Bugsy Malone (1976), Chicago (2002), Dirty Dancing (1987), Enchanted (2007), La Vie en Rose (2007), Mary Poppins (1964), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Shall We Dance? (2004), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971),
Watch afterAvatar: The Way of Water (2022),
Barbie (2023) Dune: Part Two (2024), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), Joker (2019),
Oppenheimer (2023) Parasite (2019),
Studio20th Century Fox, A24,
The audaciously titled Dicks: The Musical comes with an equally eye-catching tagline, boasting the honor of being “A24’s first musical.” That’s bound to intrigue cinephiles everywhere. After all, not every movie studio is trendy enough to regularly sell out of logo festooned merchandise. Or even make hipster merch in the first place. Continue Reading →
Silver Dollar Road
Watch afterBarbie (2023) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Black Widow (2021), Evil Dead Rise (2023), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), Joker (2019), Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023),
Oppenheimer (2023) Parasite (2019), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), The Batman (2022),
StudioMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
Based on Lizzie Presser’s 2019 ProPublica/New Yorker article, Raoul Peck’s Silver Dollar Road starts by barreling headfirst. Its first 15 minutes are a crash course of talking heads, introducing family members with broad, expository precision. The film shows them but doesn’t fully introduce them. Rather, it relies on graphics to fashion a sense of context. What the subjects say to the camera may provide an identity for the story at hand, but Peck’s approach renders such words largely textual. The narrative may be propulsive. The film, however, tends to feel stagnant. Continue Reading →
Jade
After the aggressively negative critic and audience response to 1980’s Cruising, William Friedkin took a curious “hell with it, I’m going to do whatever I want” approach to projects. None of what he directed over the next decade, save for To Live and Die in L.A., came close to receiving the kind of acclaim his early 70s career did. If anything, it seemed as though he had given up his precise, occasionally unreasonable eye for perfection in favor of churning out the most generic cable-friendly nonsense possible. Continue Reading →
Mickey's Birthday Party
Friedkin’s second film is a bruising affair that finds the fledgling director wielding style to produce maximum psychological damage.
In the early days of his career, William Friedkin found himself playing second banana to his collaborators. For instance, one of his earliest biggest TV directing gigs was on Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Then, when he made the leap to feature narrative films, his debut was in service of Cher and Sonny Bono’s cult of personality.
In The Birthday Party, Friedkin’s second film, more well know talent once again eclipses him. Playwright Harold Pinter, whose original stage play the film adapts, also contributed the film script. Even now, the cover of Blu-rays and DVDs, the only way to see it currently, bills it as “Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party.” Continue Reading →
女子高生物語 淫らな果実
The Criterion Channel dives into the unique hell of being a teenager & we’ll tell you which films not to miss.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn't exist.
Back to school time is here, and maybe you’re taking a moment to reflect on your high school days, that complicated, angsty time of bad skin, painful crushes, poorly timed boners, and discovering that you’re turning into a werewolf. Continue Reading →
High-Rise
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn't exist. Continue Reading →
Gone Girl
David Fincher's meticulous anti-murder-mystery is a curious marriage of thriller and romantic comedy.
When glancing at David Fincher’s filmography, romance may not come to mind. There are the gruesome murders in Se7en, the unsolved mysteries in Zodiac, and the rise of social media titans in The Social Network. In 2014’s Gone Girl, adapted for the screen by Gillian Flynn from her own novel, Fincher dives deep into the marriage of Amy (Rosamund Pike) and Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), a picturesque couple suddenly thrust into the national spotlight when Amy goes missing.
As the film unravels, it becomes clear that Amy orchestrated her disappearance to teach the philandering Nick a lesson. Amy and Nick may have deceived each other, but the real master of deception Fincher. Gone Girl is packaged as a psychological thriller, but it’s also Fincher’s most romantic film, the director flirting with us by using both the conventions of the thriller and rom-com genres. As a result, it woos the audience with a twisted love story. Continue Reading →