Week In, Week Out
Weekly collections of five mini-reviews capturing a wide range of films—old and new, obscure and iconic. A personal film journal in snapshots, offering quick, insightful takes on whatever’s been on the screen lately.
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Movies of the Week #50 (2022)
Plus que jamais (2022): If you’re up for heartbreak, then why not watch this beautiful and crushing tale of love and tragedy? Emily Atef might be showing European restraint, but adding the real life death of co-lead Gaspard Ulliel in a skiing accident at the beginning of this year really gives it an extra layer… Read more
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Movies of the Week #47-49 (2022)
The Menu (2022): Well, I guess could call The Menu something like The Triangle of Food, given that it shares its overarching theme with Sadness. Thankfully, it keeps itself in check more and finds a better balance, making for a more entertaining serving. It’s surprising to see that this is Mark Mylod’s first strong directorial… Read more
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Movies of the Week #45-46 (2022)
Take Out (2004): One of Sean Baker’s early works (co-created with Shih-Ching Tsou), Take Out has many of the features we’ve grown to associate with the director – the amateur actors, the contained stories, the skepticism of the American dream. It’s a “simple” tale of a Chinese immigrant in the pre-digital delivery services era, shuffling… Read more
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Movies of the Week #43-44 (2022)
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022): Martin McDonagh confirms his pedigree as one of the most consistent active directors, producing another remarkable piece of filmmaking. Starring his “usual” leads, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, this movie is one of the several themed around male friendship, a man’s (in)ability to connect and communicate. It’s also about grudges,… Read more
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Movies of the Week #41-42 (2022)
The Beta Test (2022): There’s nothing quite like watching a Jim Cummings movie. What might otherwise have played out in ways that are expected, takes all kinds of twists and turns thanks to the central character played by Cummings – in this case, a distasteful Hollywood agent. There’s an art to making movies with unlikable… Read more
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Movies of the Week #40 (2022)
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022): I’ll admit I’m torn about BBB. There were some things I didn’t like about it as the movie progressed, but an ingenious ending made me reassess my musings. First off, this is a cool, smooth flick, with a bunch of really unlikable characters. It plays off of one of those teenage… Read more
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Movies of the Week #38-39 (2022)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022): I wasn’t that surprised to find out that the previous movie of directors’ Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert was Swiss Army Man – it shares the same DNA of otherworldly-ness. But EEAaO is much more, setting itself apart with a creative riff on the Matrix, ripe with memorable characters,… Read more
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Movies of the Week #36-37 (2022)
The Argument (2020): There’s usually something that gets me about quaint, little movie experiments. The Argument is one of them, an atypical take on a minor lover’s quarrel, that leads to (ridiculous) reenactments with the hope of apportioning blame. With an inspired cast (your favourite actors from various TV shows), the movie just about works,… Read more
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Movies of the Week #35 (2022)
Competencia Oficial (2021): Movies about movies are generally exciting to me and Official Competition is one of the more memorable ones. An octogenarian pharma-multi-millionaire looks to cement his legacy by producing a top-tier movie, which ends up pitting two legendary, but radically different actors – the mainstream, popular star (Antonio Banderas) and the arthouse star… Read more
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Movies of the Week #33-34 (2022)
Herr Lehmann (2003): I’d have probably loved HL if I’d seen it on release – a movie set just before the fall of the Berlin wall, led by a young bloke with no aspirations, but a love thorn to spur him on. With a set of interesting characters, including a small part for pre-fame Christoph… Read more
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Movies of the Week #32 (2022)
Jerrod Carmicheal: Rothaniel (2022): Bo Burnham directs Jerrod Carmicheal’s latest “stand-up”, which in fact proves to be an honest, insightful meditation of the self. The show feels instantly intimate thanks to Burnham’s clever touches, but it is Carmicheal’s charming, wavering, truthful performance that allows Rothaniel to stand out in the busy, busy field of one-man-spectacles.… Read more
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Movies of the Week #30-31 (2022)
Life of Brian (1979): Monty Python’s Life of Brian remains to this day one of the most memorable movies of its decade. Relying on the wit and charisma of its classic troupe of performers, the story is an inspired spoof about religion and politics that has stayed (mostly) fresh through the years. So in spite… Read more
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