Flora and Son (2023): John Carney movies are like movie heroin for me, with the Nick Hornby-esque characters and stories, and the signature music of Carney easily working their way up my veins and into my orbifrontal cortex. As usual, people connect and communicate through music in his movies and here it is a mother and son that find each other this way. It’s all a bit cheesy in the most beautiful way possible, as Eve Hewson proves a particularly endearing lead, while Oren Kinlan sings up a warmly balanced 14-year old mini-rebel. Jack Reynor also makes a return after Sing Street and the surprise is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whom I have seen very little of in recent years. There is a certain kind of intimacy to Flora and Son, which mostly takes place in Flora’s small apartment, with the movie more similar in vibe to the bittersweet Begin Again than the all out romacle (I don’t know what this means, but hang in there) that was Sing Street. I can’t not like these self-contained stories that put cotton candy around my heart and music in my earholes. 8
Amanda (2022): Basically the Italian/European Thoroughbreds, Carolina Cavalli’s debut feature tells of a 24 year-old girl yearning for friends and attention. Amanda (Benedetta Porcaroli) suffers the isolation-dysfunction that’s a variable of wealth, her family as strange and foreign to her as the world she barely partakes in. The movie dials up the quirk and as a beleaguered friendship starts to blossom between Amanda and an equally ailing Rebecca (Galatea Bellugi), it’s hard not to feel for these characters in spite of their obnoxious nature. There is something to be said about being unfiltered at the risk of alienating others, something self-centered and brave, because finding a true fit takes a bit of madness. 8
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023): I’ve never been a big Scorsese fan, even though I’ve liked almost all his movies – not so much loved, though. KotFM is in a similar situation, a testament to the craft of filmmaking, but you won’t see me jumping on the “this is what cinema is supposed to be” bandwagon. Yes, it tells an age-old story that’s very much in the mainstream and an haunting obsession of the American civilization; yes, the movie runs down its three+ hours at a decent pace, with storytelling flourishes that inject it with life; yes, the performances are powerful, even when they don’t demand attention. But the movie not eschewing the simple allegorical constructions of its characters makes the whole thing less exciting. The exploiter, the enabler, the exploited co-exist in the plainest way possible, with storytelling devices meant to convince you that the obvious is less than obvious. I could not overcome this in spite of the cinematic qualities that push KotFM forward. It has a similar grandness to Oppenheimer’s, if with different nuances, but also similar weaknesses, failing to delve where cinema should delve for me – the unknown. I did think though that the final scenes had a wicked cleverness to it that would have served well throughout the preceding three hours. 7+
The Burial (2023): An energetic retelling of a true story, The Burial is a courtroom drama that works first and foremost because of its leads – Tommy Lee Jones and Jamie Foxx. They overcome the weaknesses in the script, which tries to be too many things at once, delivering another win for the underdog. In this case, the underdog is a small funeral home business and the “overdog” is a massive chain part providing the same services. I actually found it interesting to see the level of integration this business model had even back in the 90s and part of this proves to enable systemic racism in poverty stricken areas of the United States. There’s enough here to make you question some things and keep you entertained. 7
Sibyl (2019): There’s a lot going on in Justine Triet’s precursor to her “big hit”, but it’s not all conducive to an enjoyable movie. Starring Virgine Efira, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Gaspard Ulliel and Sandra Hüller, we’re set with a story of a psychologist who decides to become a writer (again) and crosses all ethical lines in adapting the story of one of her patients in her new book. On top of that, she has to cope with being left by the love of her life while pregnant, a story that mirrors itself in that of her “subject”. The thing is, the movie is all kinds of things, but big parts of it feel haphazard, the evolution of the characters is abrupt and the finale remorselessly dire. I liked some scenes, particularly those with Sandra Hüller, which makes me think the rating it’s received is on the harsh side, but it’s not a strong recommendation either. 6
tributary stu 