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The Brutalist

7.8/10
Epic in scale and substance, The Brutalist is a sobering counterargument of the American Dream

Just a few minutes in, you can already feel the immensity of The Brutalist. The rousing score stirs you. The weight of The Holocaust and Toth’s immigration story, which is also one of xenophobia and addiction, pulls you in. The visuals, shot in VistaVision, demand your attention. The period setting calls for nostalgia, but the inventiveness of the shots and the dizzying angles make them feel fresh. Technically and aesthetically, The Brutalist is near-perfect, and in those aspects alone it’s a marvel to witness. Where it might feel short, however, is intent. The film is politically ambiguous (director Brady Corbet has mentioned that he intended for audiences to interpret it how they wish) and consequently divisive. What could have been a brave and bold statement against the occupation of Palestine, for instance, feels only like a weak suggestion of it. It’s ambitious and epic, no doubt, though it can ring hollow if you’re looking for something more powerful and direct.

Synopsis

Escaping post-war Europe, visionary architect László Toth arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes. On his own in a strange new country, László settles in Pennsylvania, where the wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren recognizes his talent for building. But power and legacy come at a heavy cost.

Storyline

After surviving the holocaust, renowned Bauhaus architect László Tóth (Adrien Brody) escapes Hungary for America for a better life. There, he awaits his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) and niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy).

TLDR

Its immensity is impressive, even though character depth and clarity are wanting.

What stands out

The imagery is ubiquitous (I’ve seen the upside-down shot of the Statue of Liberty more times than I can count), but the score by Daniel Blumberg deserves just as much attention. It’s thunderous and brassy, reflecting the chaos of construction and Tóth’s life.

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The Very Best

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

8.5/10
In this masterful Iranian drama, tyranny starts at home

The Seed of the Sacred Fig bravely takes on the increasingly violent patriarchy and theocracy in modern-day Iran. It follows a family of four—Iman, Najmeh (Soheila Golestani), Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami), and Sana (Setareh Maleki)—and reveals how the political can creep into the personal. Iman, the father, has just been promoted at work (he’s one step closer to being a judge), while his two daughters are budding revolutionaries. The educated girls see through the lies of state television and challenge their conservative parents’ ideas on government and religion. It sounds straightforward, but director Mohammad Rasoulof lets everything unfold subtly and sharply. By the second half, the film transforms into a slow-burn thriller as the family home becomes a microcosm of Iran itself. It’s a brave film helmed by even braver people. Rasoulof and his cast, who filmed in secret to avoid the film ban in Iran, had to escape to Europe after they were interrogated and sentenced in their home country. The Seed of the Sacred Fig can’t encapsulate the entirety of Iran’s troubles, nor does it try, but it’s a good place to start.

Synopsis

Investigating judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures that strain family ties as societal rules crumble.

Storyline

A promotion at the Islamic Revolutionary Court compels Iman (Misagh Zare) to act more carefully in public, but despite his dutiful wife’s best efforts, his headstrong daughters threaten his position.

TLDR

It’s a brave political film that doubles as commentary on tense family dynamics.

What stands out

Plenty of memorable, haunting images here but the parallel between how the mother uses tweezers twice in the film is particularly gut-punching.

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The Very Best

Hard Truths

8.2/10
Pain and anger are two sides of the same coin in this hard-hitting but still sensitive study of grief in present-day London

Hurt people hurt people, the saying goes, and nowhere is that more evident than in Hard Truths. Directed by Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake, Happy-Go-Lucky), Hard Truths follows two sisters who couldn’t be more different. One is Chantelle, a cheerful hairdresser who has raised equally ebullient daughters, and the other is Pansy, a hardened woman who lashes out at everyone from her family to the people queuing up in the grocery. Pansy is brutal, the sort of person you’d roll your eyes at if you were unlucky enough to encounter her in public. But Leigh gives us a glimpse into her internal struggle; nothing too obvious, as is the naturalistic director’s style, but we feel her pain whenever she goes out of her way to avoid the people closest to her, or when she savors a moment alone and hides her tears. There is no linear plot in Hard Truths; instead, it’s a collection of lived moments and ordinary joys and sorrows. It’s also a welcome reflection of our fractured reality. Loneliness, grief, anger, anxiety—these feelings are often inexplicable, and they come out of us in ways that are never immediately understandable or direct. So why should Pansy be? The film is an exercise in sympathy as well as a mirror to our own complicated and invisible hurt.

Synopsis

Pansy, angry and depressed, lashes out at family and strangers. Her constant criticism isolates her, except from her cheerful sister Chantal, who remains sympathetic despite their differences.

Storyline

London, present-day. As the death anniversary of their mother approaches, sisters Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) and Chantelle (Michele Austin) cope and remember her in different ways.

TLDR

The derogatory “angry Black woman” is finally subverted in this moving and nuanced picture.

What stands out

Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Period.

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The Very Best

Nickel Boys

8.3/10
An intimate, immersive, and incredibly inventive look into the racial abuse of a Jim Crow-era reform school

The first things that grab your attention in Nickel Boys are its beauty and technicality. Director RaMell Ross, a large-format photographer, ensures every frame relays something deep, intimate, and moving. Then there’s how he takes these shots: we see things unfold through the POV of Elwood and Turner, students at an abusive reform school in Tallahassee, Florida. The year is 1962, and even though the civil rights movement inspires Elwood and his peers to stand up for themselves, the political climate is as skewed and violent as ever. Nickel Boys tells the unfortunately common story of how Black men, in particular, had to endure unimaginable abuse during the Jim Crow era in the South. What is uncommon, though, is the sensitivity and boundless inventiveness with which Ross tells this story. Yes, violence is unavoidable in a story like this, but Ross swaps trauma porn with something more effective and chilling—a mixture of silence, archival photographs, time jumps, and that immersive POV, which forces you to be in Elwood and Turner’s shoes. The world before them may be brutal, but inside, they hold space for beauty, fun, relationships, and wonder, manifested in the film in dreamy visual sequences. What Ross does is art in the highest form, an unforgettable balance between style and substance.

Synopsis

Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

Storyline

1962, Florida. Sixteen-year-old Elwood (Ethan Herisse) is unjustly sent to the reform school Nickel Academy, where he befriends Turner (Brandon Wilson). In between hard labor and violent reprimands, the two bond and dream of a better life.

TLDR

Though mostly snubbed during the awards race, The Academy can’t help but nominate it for the highest honor—the Best Picture Oscar—because it’s simply too good of a film to be ignored.

What stands out

Shooting purely in POV can be jarring at times, but there’s no doubt that this is a technical feat.

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Guys and Dolls

7.4/10
A slick, well-made musical adaptation that might not be perfect, but remains a classic nonetheless

There are plenty of great Hollywood movie musicals from the 1950s that are still held in high regard today. Guys and Dolls is one such musical, though perhaps it hasn’t gotten the iconic status that other MGM musicals garnered due to its uneven casting. Nevertheless, the film version of the popular stage musical adapts it well, adding incredible synchronization, excellent choreography, and a charismatic cast (as well as their behind-the-scenes drama) to a familiar, but well-made plotline of guys challenged to keep their word, whether that be in terms of gambling or of love. Guys and Dolls might not have the iconic status due to certain song performances, but it nonetheless still remains a classic for a reason– it’s just a good film.

Synopsis

Gambler Nathan Detroit has few options for the location of his big craps game. Needing $1,000 to pay a garage owner to host the game, Nathan bets Sky Masterson that Sky cannot get virtuous Sarah Brown out on a date. Despite some resistance, Sky negotiates a date with her in exchange for bringing people into her mission. Meanwhile, Nathan's longtime fiancée, Adelaide, wants him to go legit and marry her.

Storyline

Needing $1,000 to pay a garage owner to host his big craps game, gambler Nathan Detroit bets his colleague Sky Masterson that he cannot take Sergeant Sarah Brown, a sister missionary, to a dinner date in Havana.

TLDR

It’s good. But if MGM allowed Gene Kelly to take on the role of Sky Masterson… It might have been something else.

What stands out

Okay, if we were to compare voices, of course Frank Sinatra is much better than Marlon Brando, so it’s no wonder that their dynamic in real life got strained. However… I can’t deny that Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons had really good chemistry, and I have to say that Brando has the charisma for Sky Masterson.

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Carmen & Lola

7/10
Love clashes with community in this intimate, realistic lesbian drama

While homosexuality has gotten more acceptance now, exclusion still happens, more so if said queer person isn’t white. Carmen and Lola depicts two women who fall in love, and it takes on a familiar secret relationship storyline we’ve seen in other queer films, but rather than just take the familiar plot, make the leads Romani, and call it a day, the film instead focuses on how the things that keeps them apart are the very same mechanisms that the community created for their people to survive. It’s fitting that director Arantxa Echevarría depicts this through naturalistic shots and casting non-professional actors, because it makes Carmen y Lola a much more honest depiction of what it means to love in an intolerant community.

Synopsis

Carmen is a gypsy teenager, destined to live a life that is repeated every generation: getting married and raising as many children as possible. But one day she meets Lola, an uncommon gypsy who dreams about going to university, does graffiti and is very different. Carmen quickly develops a complicity with Lola and discovers a world that, inevitably, leads them to be rejected by their families.

Storyline

In a Romani town in Madrid, two women, Carmen and Lola, unexpectedly fall in love, and thus face rejection from a tight-knit community that expects them to do what all the women do: marry men and have many children.

TLDR

Wishing the best for Carmen and Lola, and every woman who had gone through what they did.

What stands out

Yes, yes, Carmen does hurt Lola initially when she first rejects her, and it will be dismaying to see her fling some of the same homophobic ideas that other people would have said in their community. But it makes sense for the context– Carmen was, after all, engaged, and part of the reason why she says these things is internalized homophobia.

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Nitram

7/10
A gripping, restrained character study that doesn’t sensationalize real life tragedy

Real life serial killers are interesting to see on screen because the very crime they committed is so unusual, that you can’t help but wonder what the heck pushed them to do such a thing. However, doing so can be tricky because a bad depiction can seem to glorify their drama at the expense of the real life victims. Thankfully, Nitram doesn’t do that. Based on the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, it does depict the killer’s perspective, but director Justin Kurzel just depicts it as is, never dramatizing or sympathizing or blaming anyone else for the killer’s actions, keeping the camera solely on Nitram himself. And it works because Caleb Landry Jones captures the killer’s off-putting intensity, and resulting loneliness, through his excellent performance. It’s not an easy watch, but Nitram is an intriguing character study that doesn’t mine drama from tragedy.

Synopsis

Based on true events, "Nitram" lives with his parents in suburban Australia in the mid-90s. He lives a life of isolation and frustration at never fitting in. As his anger grows, he begins a slow descent into a nightmare that culminates in the most heinous of acts.

Storyline

Tasmania, Australia, late 1990s. Living in isolation and never being able to fit in, Nitram unexpectedly finds a friend in a reclusive heiress Helen. However, when she dies of old age, Nitram contemplates committing a series of heinous deeds.

TLDR

It's hard to watch, but the performances are good.

What stands out

Caleb Landry Jones deserved that Cannes Best Actor Award.

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September 5

7.4/10
A taut and thrilling account of the Munich massacre, from the point of view of the broadcast team that delivered the news

On September 5, 1972, at the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, Palestinian terrorists held members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage in exchange for imprisoned countrymen. The ABC Sports team, led by Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) and Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro), despite their lack of preparation, decided to fully pivot from covering sports to news. The coverage itself was historic—it was the first time a terrorist attack had been broadcast live—and so the film follows the producers, crewmen, and journalists’ efforts in relaying the news. It’s taut, thrilling, and impressively technical. We get to see the ingenuity of the team, the ethical dilemma behind their journalistic choices, and the real consequences of those choices. Like last year’s Civil War, September 5 highlights that uneasy feeling that arises from chasing the story no matter what which, like it or not, effectively dehumanizes conflict and people into mere ratings and numbers. The mistake September 5 makes, however, is that insists on being apolitical even though that avoidance is itself a statement. There are points in the film where, despite loudly declaring they’re only here to cover the news, the characters contradict themselves by favoring one side over the other (this being a big studio film, I suppose you can already tell which side that is). It could use a bit more courage and nuance, but as it stands, September 5, along with films like Civil War, She Said, and Spotlight, is a worthy journalism procedural.

Synopsis

During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American sports broadcasting crew finds itself thrust into covering the hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes.

Storyline

The film follows the ABC Sports team that had to pivot from covering the Summer Olympics to the Israeli hostage crisis that occurred in Munich, Germany in 1972.

What stands out

The analog details. Need to enlarge a photo you ripped from a pamphlet? Have a professional photographer re-take it. Need a title flashed onscreen? Have someone fix the letters on a magnetic board. Want someone on the line to report on TV live? Dismantle the phone and connect the lines to the control board. This is a history lesson in manual journalism, and a welcome reminder of how much effort it took to deliver news (live news!) pre-computers and pre-internet.

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The Naked Kiss

7.8/10
The new girl discovers a chilling town secret in this underrated, challenging neo-noir

Despite the title and the premise, The Naked Kiss is actually less raunchy than it sounds. Sure, it does have themes that seem more explicit than what’s expected from older classic films, but writer-director Samuel Fuller considers these themes with the weight it deserves, directly challenging the way the men of the town would scorn Kelly’s wares at the same time they’re taking a taste, and at the same time they’re willing to look away from the unpleasant truths lurking in the suburbs because of money. With memorable shots and a surprising song number halfway, The Naked Kiss plays with expectations for an earnest belief in change.

Synopsis

A former prostitute works to create a new life for herself in a small town, but a shocking discovery could threaten everything.

Storyline

After a quick tryst with local police captain Griff, former prostitute Kelly abandons her lifestyle to become a nurse at the children’s hospital in Grantsville, and the fiancée of J. L. Grant, Griff’s best friend and the heir to town’s founding family, though she unexpectedly discovers a chilling secret.

TLDR

Kelly, and the children, deserve better!!!

What stands out

That eerie song number halfway. At first watch it seemed like just a random choice that just seems to relate to Kelly only, but the way it ties in with the twist later makes a kinda creepy song turn much more tragic.

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The Innocents

7.5/10
A powerful depiction of religious sisters reckoning with faith after trauma

When depicting war and faith, it seems like men are the only ones that have to undertake these challenges, at least it seems, in the stories made available about these topics. But that simply isn’t true. The Innocents is one of the few reminders that, while women might have been kept from the front lines, war has spared no one. Through stark and wintry shots, and a solemn direction, writer-director Anne Fontaine crafts tense conversations between an atheist doctor and her nun patients, making all of them reckon with the ways trauma has shifted their present principles and future actions, in a sensitive way that has rarely been seen before. While the resolution can come across as a bit too sudden, The Innocents nonetheless is a compelling study of faith.

Synopsis

Poland, 1945. Mathilde, a young French Red Cross doctor, is on a mission to help the war survivors. When a nun seeks for her help, she is brought to a convent where several pregnant sisters are hiding, unable to reconcile their faith with their pregnancy. Mathilde becomes their only hope.

Storyline

Warsaw, Poland, December 1945. Serving with an army unit, young French Red Cross doctor, Mathilde Beaulieu roams the country to help survivors of World War II, eventually meeting a group of Benedictine nuns who require her help.

TLDR

Cinema as a whole shouldn’t have taken this long to depict the women’s side of war.

What stands out

This wouldn’t have worked if it weren’t for the excellent cast and nuanced characterization made possible by having women on the helm.