Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024): It was always going to be a challenge to compare favorably to what is a near perfect movie (i.e. Fury Road). George Miller returns to his universe with pomp and circumstance, but in spite of moments of inspiration and grandeur, it lacks the sheer electric energy of Fury Road. Furiosa’s origin story has enough grit and violence and spectacle to entertain, but its pacing is off, spreading itself out over two and a half hours – which were felt. Anya Taylor Joy doesn’t get as much screen time as I expected and although I like Tom Burke, I couldn’t really get behind their bond. Chris Hemsworth is fun to watch in his demented role though and makes for a villain that’s easy to enjoy and despise at the same time. 7
Sisi & Ich (2023): I liked Corsage (2022) very much, so was interested to see another take on the travails of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Frauke Finsterwalder’s film is not so disimilar in spirit, with historical irreverence and chique visuals accompanying the story of Sisi and Irma Sztáray, her last lady-in-waiting. It doesn’t shy away from an anachronistic soundtrack, which didn’t always work for me, but still felt coherent in the stylistic approach. Pre-fame Sandra Hüller stars alongside Susanne Wolff and the dynamic of their characters makes for a compelling drama. Ultimately, though, Sisi loses steam because it’s stretched out thin over more than two hours. Thankfully, a clever ending marks it as a worthwhile watch. 7
Tout le monde aime Jeanne (2022): It’s not Raymond, it’s Jeanne – a thirty-something visionary who struggles with self-confidence after her eco-project fails spectacularly and has to sell her mother’s home to make ends meet. I liked the way the movie establishes her character, both in terms of writing and visually, with some nifty representation of her troubling thoughts. She finds an unlikely kindred spirit in the kleptomaniacal Jean and their stories of grief and acceptance come together authentically enough to matter. 7
MoviePass, MovieCrash (2024): As a European, I only had a vague knowledge of this miraculous MoviePass existing and I recall the first thought that came to mind when I become aware of it – how is this even possible? Well, turns out it was not possible, not as a fantastic offer to change the way we approached the cinemagoing experience. Just how Netflix or Uber are nothing but aggressive takeovers of analogue business models heading heading towards the point where they offer consumers more or less the same experiences. MoviePass tells what in the meantime feels like a familiar story of fraud, with a heavy emphasis on racial prejudice in the venture capital market. It’s definitely interesting enough to hold your attention, but not groundbreaking or exploratory as a piece of documentary film-making. 7
A Cat in Paris (2010): A cute, little animation with a gorgeous visual style, “A Cat in Paris” is an Oscar nominated treat. I guess you could say that it’s a children’s movie, with few narrative ambitions or subversion, but I still found it very easy to enjoy at a brisk 70 minutes. It tells of a cat that chills with a little girl during the day and embarks on capers with a thief at night and, you guessed it, the two worlds inevitably collide. There’s just something very endearing about the feel the movie has, making it an unexpected surprise for me. 7
tributary stu 