Palm Springs (2020): I really enjoyed rewatching Palm Springs, basically in preparation for Max Barbakow’s follow-up to it, the soon to be released Brothers. As I pointed out in my first review, everything clicks so well here, that it’s hard not to like Nyles and Sarah’s time-loop situation. What struck me now, is how hard the underlying commentary about our comfort zones and tolerating a general situation of arrested development in our lives hits. And somehow it feels like this could at any time be explored further at a truly existential level, because what we see are the merest snippets of many years spent repeating the same day – moving from a romcom to a horror movie would be a matter of tone. Lovely. 8
Longlegs (2024): Probably the main takeaway from this popular summer horror flick is that director/writer Osgood Perkins is the son of Psycho actor Anthony Perkins. Otherwise, it’s a slow and freaky story that starts out as a familiar police procedural, only to take unlikely twists and turns in its last act. Added to that is the presence of Nicolas Cage, who ticks off another foray into the art of just making whatever movie he considers interesting. I don’t know if Longlegs ultimately does enough to subvert expectations, but the execution is unsettling to a degree that makes Longlegs a good genre fare. 7
Last Dance (2022): The story of a widower who gains a purpose when joining a dance troupe to honor his wife works well enough, but it feels like it misses a few beats. François Berléand plays Germain, who doesn’t really have time to grieve as his whole family decides on how to micromanage him and his life. I feared the movie would be fairly rote, in just going through the motions to tell this story from a different angle, but it turns out to put too much into it, plot and characters-wise, to gel and flow over its short runtime. Still, not a bad way to pass a rainy afternoon. 6
Coup de chance (2023): Woody Allen will always be Woody Allen, with his distinctive verbose characters and some degree of wit (less so recently, no?). He also happens to be the director I’ve seen most movies from, though not by design. Here we find ourselves in French, and follow a game of chance between various flawed characters. There are elements that feel quite intriguing, but ultimately the movie requires the viewer to take some unjustified leaps in order to reach its finale. I don’t think it works great, but it is watchable. 6
Last Straw (2023): There are messy movies and then there’s Last Straw – a movie that poses big questions with unearned pretentiousness, featuring a morally bankrupt lead whose only validation comes at the end of a contrived plot that manages to seem long at just 80 minutes. It’s a shame, because the set-up held promise and the film-making is assured, particularly for a debut, but this is what modern-day style over substance looks like. 4
tributary stu 