The Pigeon Tunnel (2023): I might not have read much of John le Carré (aka David Cornwell), nor seen many of his book adaptations, but what I did see was always intriguing. Watching this documentary by Errol Morris, shot so very, very close to the end of his life makes for a riveting time, Cornwell a sharp, lucid, engaging storyteller, who turns everyone he talks about into a captivating character. The father-son relationship is particularly fascinating, with its so unusual protagonists between which still familiar dynamics become apparent. Although stylishly shot, I was not a fan of the reenactments, which I usually feel gives a documentary movie a very straight-to-tv kind of vibe. Other than that, a must watch for fans and a recommended watch for the curious. 8
Monkey Man (2024): Dev Patel takes on a lot of duties in this Indian John Wick, leading, writing and directing. It’s all very energetic, but I already had John Wick fatigue with John Wick and Monkey Man is violently more of the same. Shaky cam and extreme close ups might not be to everyone’s liking, but the overall package is a slick revenge flick. It also stands out by using a very particular song from one of the best trailers ever made. The gist of it, though, is pretty generic, with genocidal police, manipulative spiritual leaders and corrupt politicians making the usual crop of bad guys. One for the action fans, who like some hand to hand and have a thing against bags of rice. 6
Good Grief (2023): A lot of work for Dan Levy in this one, taking on triple duties. Perhaps it’s not as strenuous for a minor melodrama, with Good Grief hitting familiar notes with good pitch. Where the movie struggles is in defining its characters as likable, because rather than a story about grief, this is first of all a story about friendship – three friends that are not that easy to side with. It’s a bit of a shame, because the set-up worked well (even if its “twist” felt phoned in), and the first half of the movie does a good job at framing its story. 6
The First Omen (2024): Again, watching a prequel to a series that I’ve seen nothing else of. Not that it matters much here. TFO is a decent genre film, good on style, telling an origin story that is atmospheric, but doesn’t deliver very much excitement. Although it shares themes with Immaculate, the movie feels more coherent, dabbling in interesting contrasts and historical settings. I can’t quite put my finger on why I wasn’t able to fully take in TFO, although if I had to write something, I would write that it plays a safe genre game. For a debut feature, not bad though, Arkasha Stevenson executing the, let’s say, less secular scenes with excellent flair. Also, funnily enough, a very different Bill Nighy movie. 6
The Beautiful Game (2024): I wrote a while back about the Romanian documentary featuring the Homeless Team that participated in the World Cup in Australia in 2009. This feature film follows the English team, a fiction movie that for a long while feels so cliched that it’s painful to watch. Disgraced footballer and maladjusted human, i.e. our lead, begrudgingly joins the national team where he behaves like a complete a*hole for most of the time and you’re just yelling at the screen: come on already, become decent! This duly happens towards the end, which coincides with some very emotional moments that I found hard to deny in spite of how trite the movie had been up until then. TBG just captures how empowering decency and magnanimity can be, making this whole trip worthwhile. 6
tributary stu 