Past Lives (2023): The most impressive thing about Past Lives is that it is Celine Song’s first feature film. It flows and fills the room with ease, capturing mood and essence with the pan of a camera. That being said, it relies heavily on the universality of the circumstances it conjures, which only works if the characters take a back seat in the whole affair and that is what they do here. There is very little that truly establishes Nora, Hae Sung or even Arthur as more than conduits for vibes and projections, which to me limits what the movie can explore and reveal about our miserly search for connection. It dabs in the saccharine, but never indulges, which is good and maintains an aura of reputability. Past Lives’s strength is also its weakness, as it envelops the viewer and the characters in an all-encompassing warmth that’s snug to be in, which also means it’s very safe. Just writing this, I was brought back to a much sharper, less melancholy exploration of the topic, Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years (2015). I reckon how much you like this one will come down to your mood going into it. Regardless of it, you probably should. 7+
Riddles of the Sphinx (1977): Laura Mulvey’s experimental feminist movie has an anti-narrative form and takes a stand against the male gaze with an unusual set of scenes featuring 360-degree pans and obscure conversations between vaguely identifiable female characters. It is an intriguing intellectual endeavour, framed by the myth of the sphinx as it relates to femininity outside of patriarchal constructs, with audio-visual queues that can at times prove arresting in an almost hypnotic fashion. However, the movie also sways strongly towards dullness, with its academic and emotionally sterile approach, to the point that it feels like it overstays its welcome. Interesting conceptually, but would have been more effective as a short. 7
Dead Shot (2023): I wasn’t sure I was going to like this – a revenge thriller set against the UK-IRA backdrop of the 1970s, it all sounded rather drab. Add to that the underdeveloped characters and the by-the-numbers plot and there are some arguments weighing heavily against Dead Shot. However, the stylish approach to the story and the solid acting performances elevated this movie for me, co-directed by the Guard brothers. The mood is thick even when we don’t care so much about the people doing their business and the footmen dying as pawns in a war run by malevolent superiors. It never overstays its welcome and does what it does quite well – I guess the grittier version of Equalizer it is. Also, you can add this to the list of movies in which Mark Strong features astonishing hair (it’s actually quite the phenom). 6
The Equalizer 3 (2023): Travel to the Amalfi coast with an aging Denzel Washington for a relaxing coffee and kill. I must have missed the second movie in this series (oops?), but it’s not like it mattered, because the Equalizer is just your run of the mill Taken/Jack Reacher/John Wick, reliant of Washington’s somber presence and shiny smile. Thankfully, though, there’s enough in this to make for decent popcorn cinema, with nifty set-ups, satisfying revenge-porn violence and beautiful vistas making up for its mundane plot and invisible characters. It’s also kind of interesting to see how Denzel’s limited physicality lent itself for a more ninja approach to the mass-murdering of generic baddies, which actually is a good change of pace from the Wickian all-out slaughter fests. 6
Sterne unter der Stadt (2023): Absolutely everything is cheesy about this dreamlike romantic fantasy, in a way that sometimes defies the odds. Chris Raiber’s movie feels like it belongs to the early 00s, with its two naive (and drama prone) misfit-lovers gearing up on quirks and enveloping each other with them. It sure seems to draw inspiration from similar movies of the era, but in spite of all these quibbles, it also kind of works on some level of saccharine melancholy. There are scenes that draw well on the dreamlike quality they would like to conjure, which I guess makes it, yes, why not, a romantic Equalizer of some sort. 6
tributary stu 