Do Not Expect Too Much Of the End of the World (2023): Radu Jude finds a good balance in his latest work, which is seemingly crass, yet full of class (ahah, sorry), in a narrative and visual layering that flows freely and conjures a kind of complexity that’s often hard to catch on film. The story follows Angela, whose job is your too typical sixteen hour shifter. When she is depleted, the best she gets from her employers is a “have another Red Bull” suggestion. It’s a taxing, soul-sucking sort of employment, the kind of job whose real usefulness in the grand scheme of things is marginal. As an escape from this hellish drudge, Angela has created a social media character named “Bobitza”, as whom, while hidden behind a face filter, she waxes lyrically as a cuss-dripping, misogynist alpha male. So it’s all quite unusual and complex, which makes for a good movie in the end. Like any good movie, this one will not leave you indifferent and I’ve barely touched on everything that could be discussed. It finds excitement in unlikely places and delivers with a kind of spastic energy that’s best encapsulated by its meta-world. There is a truth to it that cannot be denied, even in its moments that feel more like performance art than “factual” observation. Sure, it’s not for everyone, not only because it can be uncomfortable in terms of content, but because it embraces a kind of otherness that requires some adjustment. Full review here. 8
Totally Killer (2023): A time-travel slasher that actually works? Sign me up. I’ve always had a hard time with the slasher genre and not even the revival of Scream and the infusion of meta-irony has done much to help. Yet, in TK there is a good balance of everything – a good murder-mystery, schlocky killer costume, film references and gentle nudges on the massive shift in generational standards over conduct in the last three decades. Still, my favourite scene is probably one where, recently transported to 1987 (whoop, whoop), our lead gets a lift from a young mother who is a smoker and as she leaves the car, the smoke is so thick you can barely see the woman’s two children in the backseat. Pretty much my childhood holidays #longlivethe90s. Anyhow, effective performances make sure this little slasher gets alongside Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) as one to not throw away on sight. I was honestly quite shocked to see that my mother also managed to sit through it and even find enjoyment. Does this mean that she’s tapping into the Gen Z sensitivities or that I’m becoming more of a Boomer? 7
Dumb Money (2023): The Gamestop “social movement” gets its own movie, produced by some of our favourite venture capitalists, the Winkelvoss brothers. Director Craig Gillespie has some hits (I, Tonya) and misses (Million Dollar Arm) in his resume, but he scrounges up a healthy dose of entertainment with Dumb Money. Clearly, the aim is to make the movie as viscerally against an experience of schadenfreude as the assault on Wall Street institutions and practices was when this all happened, which is both good and bad. Good because it was entertaining to witness, more so to be a part of it I imagine, but bad because it doesn’t delve much beyond. The movie is satisfied with drawing good guys/bad guys lines and overemphasizes the impact that the “movement” had going forward, without really looking at the fallout. Of course, that would all have been less sexy. That said, this Social Network lite will go by in jiff and it entertains along the way. 7
Mon crime (2023): A little treat from François Ozon, who is one of the most solid directors working in France in the last decade, this farce of a movie feels like it belongs to a different time. And I say that in a good way. An almost destitute actress admits to a murder she did not commit and riding on the French justice system of the 30s gets away with it while gaining much needed visibility. Of course, things get complicated when the actual murderer appears, but this is not a movie of tension, it’s one of laughs. Or at least chuckles. Women play men, the makers of worlds, like fiddles in this one, with the faultless bonhomie that’s already made appearances in Ozon’s movies. Light, but tight, an amusing affair. 7
Cats of Malta (2023): This proved an endearing companion for a Sunday when the winds change, although it doesn’t break new ground in its exploration. In terms of structure and content, the movie is fairly similar to what you’ve (probably) seen in Kedi. But whereas that took a more existential turn, with humans appearing as support characters rather than leads, Sarah Jayne’s Cats of Malta is more practical and leans on the community of people that dedicate a part of their lives to caring for the very many cats of the island country. There is a lot of warmth to Cats of Malta, which makes it worth a watch. Full review here. 7
tributary stu 