Master and Commander The Far Side of the World (2003): One of the few promising mainstream movies of the 00s that I had not seen, this reteaming of Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany is an exciting seafaring flick. The visuals and sound effects steal the show, but the movie also achieves something that often eludes To conclude on a summary note that almost sounds like AI, but it still has value because it is true: the story of ambitious captain Jack Aubrey finds both intensity and levity in the hands of experienced director Peter Weir. 8
Ferrari (2023): I’m a fan of racing so, implicitly, I want to like movies about racing. Even moreso movies about my (once?) favourite F1 team, the Scuderia. Michael Mann returns to the big screen in the year he turns 80 with a kind of biopic about Enzo Ferrari, the eponymous founder. With Adam Driver in the titular role, and a very strong cast all around, including Penelope Cruz and Shailene Woodley, we venture into the year 1957, a point of inflection for Ferrari’s struggling business. The key to the turnaround is supposed to be winning the Mille Miglia race, one of the deadliest challenges in the history of motorsport. It’s appropriate for a movie where the specter of death looms large over the characters, for all sorts of reasons, and when it finally visits the screen, it’s unexpectedly brutal. In a way there are many things going on, the movie has a good pace, but it’s never thrilling – even if watching gorgeous cars go vroom does tickle my fancy. And for not being thrilling, I don’t think it’s elaborate enough to really stand out, but better than Mann’s other more recent movies. 7
Dream Scenario (2023): Kristoffer Borgli writes and directs something that feels a lot like a spiritual follow up to Sick of Myself (2022). Both movies deal with (fake) fame and our inherent need for external validation, but whereas SoM was unhinged to the point of uncompromising unpleasantness, Dream Scenario plays like a watered down, unsubtle take on the memefication of our reality. There’s quite a bit of cleverness to it, a cool concept and some incisive scenes, including a touching ending, but there’s also a lot of tedium in its surface level allegories. Nicolas Cage does a good job of selling the whole thing though, so that on the balance of things it’s just interesting enough to warrant some exploration. 6
Victoria (2016): Going through Justine Triet’s filmography, it’s very interesting to see the germination of her style and ideas, coming together imperfectly until everything clicks in Anatomy of a Fall. What sets Anatomy apart is its strong focus and patient construction, whereas both here and in Sibyl, there’s just so much going on that it feels difficult to attach emotionally to the characters. In Victoria, the lead character played (once more) by Virginie Efira has to balance her life as an attorney and single-mother, while being challenged with defending a male friend accused of abusing his girlfriend. With its morally ambiguous central character, this is a movie that asks some interesting questions. However, it was positioned as a gender-reversal romcom, just without much of the rom and the com, making it a confusing watch. As an aside, do notice how the same idea present in that the pivotal scene in Anatomy of a Fall re: balance in relationships makes an appearance here as well. 6
Anyone But You (2023): Having two of the biggest and hottest young stars in your movie should guarantee success – and to some degree it does. There’s also something surreal about people who are so perfectly attractive playing about love, but let’s not dwell on that too much. A soft romcom with a level of contrivance (aka formula) that’s off the scale even for the genre, it features Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, whose characters always hear just as much or as little of a conversation to “make the movie happen”. Director Will Gluck knows not to frame things too seriously, but inevitably the whole thing falters at times by playing it too safe. Still, it can be enjoyed, even if you end up hearing yourself roll your eyes in front of the (big) screen while doing so. 6
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