The Lighthouse (2019): It’s rare to find the cinematic trifecta: great leads, great script, great visuals. The Lighthouse ticks all the boxes and while I am thankful to have been able to see it in the cinema at this point in time, it saddens me that I was deprived of surround sound – something that would have definitely elevated the experience to dizzying levels. Willem Dafoe and Willem Dafriend – I mean, Robert Pattinson are working a lighthouse on a remote island in a man against man, man against nature, man against himself kind of situation. It’s a movie that turns out to be both grand and intimate at the same time, witty and claustrophobic, palpably real and rife with folklore. And you better like the lobster. 8
North Dallas Forty (1979): Watching this, I realized I had never seen Nick Nolte young. He brings great energy to a sulky football player of not-that-many words, in this movie that’s both fascinatingly modern, while also deeply outdated. Set in the world of American football, it depicts a team pushing for play-off qualification, and somehow captures the spirit of all parties involved so very well. Sure, players don’t sit around smoking and drinking beer during practice, but their dynamics feel real, complemented by a disciplinarian, number-crunching manager and self-aggrandizing ownership. It’s not a comedy at all, really, but rather an incriminatory look at a certain cycle of abuse. 7
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (2023): A perfectly agreeable movie about a young teenage girl adapting to a new school and anguishing about being older sooner (fool), AYTGIMM works well thanks to endearing performances all around. It’s not quite as witty as KF Craig’s previous, The Edge of Seventeen, but that might also be because of its younger protagonists and overall wholesome approach to youthful tribulations. Also, there are some spiritually-existential questions being hinted at more or less overtly, with the wise conclusion that it’s a personal journey which one takes in their own time, regardless of what others might wish to transfer upon them. 7
Mascarade (2022): I’ve not seen the more famous movies of Nicolas Bedos, but on the evidence of Mascarade, I think I just might. While not particularly fresh in terms of plot, I found it an engaging and bemusing con-thriller, with a nifty cast – Pierre Niney (Frantz) and Marine Vacht (Jeune et Jolie), who have a Francois Ozon connection in the two movies mentioned. Love, secrets and infatuation usually make for good ingredients in this kind of fare, but it’s a shame that the ending is weak in its highly cliched form. 6
Sisu (2022): It feels like this genre of Nazi-revenge-porn should’ve been tapped out by now, maybe replaced by some braver choices of things we collectively despise about society. Alas, it’s still the “go-to”, and as far as go-tos go, Sisu is a decent representation of what it promises – a Finnish Nazi-slaying superhero, basically. Some cool scenes of murderous gore and the general visual austerity they contrast to make for an somewhat entertaining roadshow. 6
tributary stu 