Ridley Scott returns with a new historic epic about the ups and downs of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby.
Napoleon Conquers The Screen – Review of Ridley Scott’s New Epic Read More »
Long before Coriolanus Snow became the president of Panem that we know and despise – he was an eager student, determined to help his family. The prequel by Hunger Games, directed by Francis Lawrence, tells the story of the upbringing of President Snow. The Antagonist of the franchise.
Review – The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Snowbirds and Snakes Read More »
Lokis second Season dropped last week. Of course we had to see it and check out if the newest Marvel TV Show is worth to check out.
Lost in Time: The Premiere of Loki Season 2 Read More »
“How could Mom and Dad do that to us?”“They thought they were giving us powers.”“Well, I got a lot more than powers. I got a broken fucking brain!” Episode 3 kicks off with a flashback, taking us back to Sage Grove Center three years ago. We see Sam (Asa Germann), visibly agitated and upset over learning about Compound V. Luke (Patrick Schwarzenegger) calms down his little brother, we get an emotionally charged scene, emphasizing the brother’s love for each other. This scene turns out to be a flashback of Cate’s (Maddie Phillips) in the form of a nightmare, from passing from overusing her powers. Cate and Andre’s (Chance Perdomo) relationship takes an unexpected turn. Meanwhile, Marie (Jaz Sinclair) rescues Emma (Lizze Broadway), who has pushed her powers to become tiny. They argue about their self-harming use of their abilities, each defending their actions as a demonstration of their power. Godolkin University plans a fundraiser and Vought strategizes to shape Marie’s image. Andre yearns to do something heroic. Emma’s overbearing mother enters the picture. Another flashback shows us the moment Luke learns about Sam’s supposed suicide three years ago. At the gala, Marie becomes the center of attention, while Emma faces exploitation from her mother and Vought. Emma and Marie’s friendship deepens as they share a heartfelt moment in the bathroom. Emma and Jordan confront each of their parents’ ignorance and bigotry, tackling gender and mental health issues. Jordan’s “I’ve always just been me” quote was super powerful and London Thor’s delivery was excellent. Andre seeks Emma’s help in a dangerous mission and then confides in his dad, who reveals he’s aware of the sinister activities in “the woods”. Emma and Sam meet and form a connection based on empathy and understanding and after learning the true reason for Emma being there, he agrees to be rescued. After learning about Indira’s exploitative intentions, Marie finally reveals the truth about her parents to Jordan and Cate, building their bond. The episode ends with Emma witnessing Sam’s torture. She tries to save him, but the security seemingly outnumbers them, leaving us on a gripping cliffhanger. #ThinkBrink skillfully delves into the theme of exploitation, shedding light on real-life challenges faced by many children and young adults. The show’s masterful use of the score and sound effects, particularly in the opening scene, stood out to me, as well as the continuous well-paced story building. What truly shines is the development of the characters and their relationships, which felt incredibly natural and organic and I’m genuinely excited to see where the show plans to take these characters in future episodes. One aspect that I, and I’m sure many fans of “The Boys”, particularly appreciate is how the show manages to connect both the main series and its spin-off. It subtly incorporates callbacks and references, such as a glimpse of the infamous ‘Love Sausage’ in The Woods and we even got a cameo from ‘The Deep’ (Chace Crawford). Overall, Episode 3 is a must-watch and my favorite so far. It’s got relevant themes, great character development, and a story that keeps you excited for what’s next. Don’t miss it! -Mel
‘Gen V’ Episode 3 Review: “#ThinkBrink” Read More »
–This review contains spoilers for Episode 2 of Gen V- We return to Godolkin University. A tragic incident hallows above the school. Golden Boy blew himself up. No one truly saw it coming. After all, he was promised to join the Seven. His sudden death plays a role in what the season seems to unfold. The secret behind “the woods.” The episode starts off with another music choice that left me hooked. Phoebe Bridgers, covering “Nothing else matters”, while a team clears out the remains of Golden Boy. It’s a scene that could’ve been right out of The Boys. Episode two tries to build up the character around Marie. We get a closer look at Cate, who grieves for her boyfriend and may have a clue for the investigation on the woods. Meanwhile Vought wants all the budget they have invested in Golden Boy to go to another student that can take his place in time. We at last get a look at a familiar character and meet Ashley (with a full head of hair!). Complaining to Indira, the new dean of Godolkin University, about what she’s supposed to do with all the merch she had on golden boy. Urging the people at Godolkin to push Andre Anderson and Marie Mareau up to the top 10. Andre is expected to fully take over Golden Boys’ spot. In this scene we get another hint to the infamous woods, with Ashley mentioning how an exposure would cause “a fatal problem” for Vought. Indira seems to take a special interest in Marie, although her real intentions remain unclear. She makes her attend photoshootings, interviews and turns Marie to the first Freshman who’s ever been in the Schools Top 10. What the audience finds out – what the characters aren’t aware of yet – is that she also plays a huge role behind the secret of the Sage Grove Center or as the friend group calls it: the Woods. Cate and Andre question the school’s involvement in Luke’s death. They find out that Lukes little brother Sam has been kept under the grips of the Sage Grove Center for years, while his relatives were told that Sam died a long time ago. Cate and Andre ignore every other obligation and turn Sam to a new priority in order to honor Luke’s last wishes. Meanwhile Maries roommate Emma opens up about the secret behind her superpower to a girl she entrusted in class. Getting backstabbed by the same person, Emma’s story gets taken advantage of to boost the classmate’s social media accounts. The episode does a great job in establishing the characters we briefly met in Episode 1 and turning them into their own people. By the end of it, the people around Marie had so many facettes that they became exciting. While watching, I sometimes completely forgot about other subplots, because I was so hooked on what was happening right now. Although it does add more depth to the other characters, Marie sadly falls a little flat here. We find out that her main intention behind all of this, is gaining her sister’s trust back and being able to see her again – once it’s clear that this may not happen, the morals she has established start to turn gray. The overall theme of the episode plays with our generation’s addiction to social media and does a great job of highlighting its consequences, like feeling the need to get more and more likes and positive feedback. Following the social criticism, toxic “faux” mental health positivity gets a reality check by pointing out the hypocrisy of only bringing attention to it when something terrible happens. Despite the episode’s few flaws, Gen V still has a strong start, beating many preceding spin-offs.
‘Gen V’ Episode 2 Review: “First day” Read More »
Last week the first Episodes to the Spin Off of Amazon Primes Hit Show “The Boys” dropped.
The spin-off tells the story of Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) as she navigates through her first days at Godolkin University, a college for young adults with superpowers.
‘Gen V’ Episode 1 Review: “God U” Read More »
„Chivalry may be dead, but I didn’t kill it“ In 2001, author Skip Hollandsworth published a piece for the Texas Monthly about a man called Gary Johnson. Naming him “the most professional killer in Houston”, he was hired to kill more than 60 people – what his clients didn’t know is that he never actually killed. He is a fake Hit Man who works for the police as a side hustle. In everyday life Gary Johnson is your average guy. Always polite. Friendly. Living on his own with his two cats. Would be an interesting premise for a film, right? At least that’s what director Richard Linklater and Hollywood’s rising actor and this film’s producer Glen Powell thought as well. While changing some (major) details on the true story of Johnson, they presented their new film ‘Hit Man’ this week at the Venice Film Festival outside its competition and received a flood of positive Feedback. Director Richard Linklater had his hands on comedies before. You might know some of his films since he also worked on classics like ‘School of Rock’ or even well-known Love Stories like the ‘Before Sunset’ trilogy. For a good while he didn’t really land a hit, but I think that might change once this one hits theatres. With Hit Man, he attempts to bring Rom-Coms back to the big screen. And these days I feel like we desperately need them back. In his Version of the Gary Johnson story, the fake Hitman is portrayed by producer Glen Powell himself. Just that Gary here isn’t aware that he looks like Glen Powell. He wears his flannels in his shorts. Jackets that are way too big for him. Small glasses and outside his little side hustle for the police he passionately offers classes at the local university. He actually used to be the IT dude for these Hit Man cases. He just suddenly has to replace their usual guy for a while. Turns out this can be a fun way to invent yourself. Dive into new roles. He researches each Client and creates a fictional Hit Man based on their likings. Patriotic American dude? Sure, Gary will put on some fake Tattoos, a denim vest and gel his hair back to make it look more nasty. Someone intimidating? How about we imitate Patrick Bateman from American Psycho. It’s all fun and games until he meets Madison (Adria Arjona). A client who doesn’t really want to get her husband killed, but sees no other way to escape her marriage. Instead of exposing her to the police, he wants to help her out. Then again… then again and, oops, are we catching feelings here? The falling in love with a client part certainly wasn’t in the books. Especially given the fact that Madison doesn’t know Gary but only the cool, laid-back Hit Man ‘Ron’. The screenplay is very well and humorously written by Linklater and Powell himself. It feels well-paced, and you barely notice the time passing by. It plays around a lot with Film Noir Clichés. Always trying to reflect those and never being too much. This may be Linklaters best film in years. Powell proves to be Hollywood’s rising star. It was incredible to watch him dive into so many different roles and prove that he doesn’t only have the charisma and looks to but that he has the perfect comedic timing to be an excellent actor in comedies. Something I truly liked was the question of identity always remaining front and center. Gary educates his students on the Id, ego and superego after Freud. Simultaneously exploring his own self constantly and challenging it, by playing different Hit Man for every individual client. It would’ve been even more interesting to dive deeper into the darkness of the story and while the film looked amazing one could’ve put more work into the production design. Nevertheless, the fact that the audience gave huge scene applauses and constant cheers during the screening solidify the film’s exceptionality. This is truly a hidden gem at the Venice Film Festival that proves that comedies can also have its place in here. Funny, intelligent, and always having the question of Identity in its center makes ‘Hit Man’ the Rom-Com we all may need after a long day. -Rue
Linklater’s ‘Hit Man’ is the hidden gem at the Venice Film Festival Read More »
An Intro with an eerie tone. We see weapons. Pictures of a crime. Tension. The newest David Fincher film ‘The Killer’ premiered at the 80th Venice Film Festival upon its release on Netflix this October. We meet Michael Fassbender as ‘The Killer’. He’s a lonely assassin. Spends all day sitting in an empty apartment. Waits for his target. Plays the Smiths. Does Yoga. Plays the Smiths again. He is cold hearted and has his principles. No empathy. No remorse. He never misses. Until he does. After messing up a target he must escape. The Hunter becomes the hunted. His conclusion: he must get rid of those who might come for him first. The editing in this is marvelous. While the film is slow and takes things step by step, the editing somehow feels faster paced. You cannot look away. Every shot feels thought out. There isn’t a lot happening, but when it does, it gets its audience’s fullest attention. ‘The Killer’ also delivers daunting scenes that feel cruel (which is something you might expect from a Fincher film). But then again, we also have a few scenes that made the audience light up in a little nervous laughter. Questioning oneself whether it’s cool to laugh over what we see on screen. We have a protagonist who seems cold-hearted. He isn’t charming. Not really relatable (I mean if he is to you, I’d be a little scared). He barely talks to other characters. He does talk to us though. In this way this felt very Dexter-esque, a Killer with a constant inner monologue. Minus the charm Dexter, for example, had to offer. Nevertheless, the inner monologue makes us understand him and his actions as well. We get why he mentions his own rule book repeatedly. There are many scenes where we understand that he certainly isn’t as cold as he thinks he is. Even in the beginning when he misses his target, we see him doubt himself. The sound design is haunting and something you may expect from a Fincher film. The fight scenes we see here, especially a certain one with a Bodybuilder are so fun to watch because they’re so well executed. This feels more like a character study. To me, sadly, I didn’t quite get warm with him. I didn’t expect him to be an empathetic or relatable person, yet I somehow needed more to hold onto him. Care about the assassin we follow along for 118 Minutes. Nonetheless, this is incredibly well done. Michael Fassbender does an excellent job at playing our Killer and maybe if you stop trying to take his character serious and realize he’s doubting himself, it’ll become way more fun to watch. One thing I can agree on with our Killer here, is that the Smiths truly rock. Overall, I think we can all agree that Fincher truly remains to be the master of suspense. (And now that the Killer is almost out and brings Fincher back to the crime scenes. I must do my duty here and ask Mr. Fincher to finally work on a third Season of the Mindhunter.)
Review: Fincher’s Latest Film Delivers a Gripping Tale of a Flawed Assassin Read More »
Love me tender, love me sweet, never let me go… Just a year after Baz Luhrman’s ‘Elvis’ (starring Austin Butler) we get a whole different take to this story that throws the narrative Luhrman created upside down. Sofia Coppola’s newest film ‘Priscilla’ premiered at the Venice Film Festival last night and received a flood of positive reviews. I loved it and I hope you stick with me to tell you why. Now, Coppola is known to create incredible stories about women. Freeing privileged women from grips. Coppola is also excellent in creating intimacy and capturing human emotions in slow films very well. She’s been at the festival before in 2003 for her screening of ‘Lost In Translation’. With ‘Priscilla’ she dared to write a screenplay that wasn’t for Elvis fans, rightfully so. It questions the relationship 14-year-old Priscilla had with the then already established Rock n’ Roll icon Elvis Presley. The film looked like what being in love as a teen felt like. All colored in Cotton Candy Colors. We meet the great Elvis Presley out of Priscillas POV in a military base camp in West Germany. She’s staying with her parents. We see her do homework at a diner until she gets interrupted by older men who approach her and ask her if she wants to join a party. They say they’re friends with Elvis. She must’ve heard of Elvis, right? We see a young girl, introduced to a famous figure she’s in awe of. Elvis Presley here is played by Jacob Elordi. Some of you might be familiar with his breakout role as Nate Jacobs in Euphoria. Cailee Spaeny plays young Priscilla. Something that will immediately get the spectators attention is the immense height difference the characters have. Considering that they had a 10-year age gap when he met teenage Priscilla. The image of seeing a tall Jacob Elordi as Presley in front of a much smaller Spaeny in the role of Priscilla, is something that tells a lot without saying it out loud. Especially given that in the scene right before she met him, we see her choose outfits with her mother. Both Actors did a really good job. Spaeny captures the silent pain Priscilla felt in her relationship so well: nodding, accepting, hoping it might change, while also loving the man she fell in love with back in Germany. Elordi plays the charming but troubled Elvis so well, making the audience understand his actions, but never pity him. Coppola does not back away to picture Elvis as a turbulent, abusive, manipulative, and insecure man. At the same time, she manages to capture the love he tries to give, and the love Priscilla is feeling in all of this. The relationship is wrong in so many ways, yet the audience gets told why she stayed for so long. It has been a while since I saw an audience gasp together when seeing a man who was adored by so many shed in a different light: telling Priscilla how to wear her hair, how to do her makeup, criticizing her dresses or having outbursts of anger when she does not agree with him. Priscilla is a story that is important to tell and a film that is important to see, especially to those who’ve seen the romanticized view on Elvis by Baz Luhrman a year before. Maybe this could be a wake-up call for those who refused to listen to Priscillas POV for so long… -Rue
Review: Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ Shines a Needed New Light on Elvis Presley Read More »
After last year’s film about Todd Fields fictional Conductor Lydia Tàr, the Venice Film Festival decided to offer the screen another one. This time not fictional though. A Conductor who was known to be a legend in his work. Now, Leonard Bernstein is a name most of you may have heard of. The brilliant conductor of iconic musicals like “West Side Story”. His music is known to be truly special, and he was certainly one of the best of his time. However, his life – as we learn in Bradley Coopers “Maestro” (2023) – would also be troublesome in many ways. We begin with following Bernstein (played by Bradley Cooper himself) in his thirties. Recalling his early memories of meeting his wife Felicia (Carey Mulligan) and towards their ups and downs in marriage, while both tried to balance their thriving careers. Going into the movie, I knew absolutely nothing about Leonard Bernstein. I knew he wrote West Side Story; his name was certainly one I have heard, but never have I paid much attention to his life before. Bradley Coopers film truly made me care so deeply about a family I have just met. Turns out Bernstein was known to be a person who simply had, as the film keeps on repeating, a lot of love to give. Therefore, despite loving his wife, he didn’t hesitate to see other people – especially men who fascinate him as human beings – in romantic ways. It is very difficult to produce a biopic without idolizing a person too much or turning the narrative against the subject. Cooper manages to look at Bernstein’s ups and downs in a very caring way. Here the audience is never really told what year it is, Cooper tries to make that clear by using specific stylistics such as changing film rations or colors. The acting is incredible. Especially Carey Mulligan who is just as important to this film as Cooper. She manages to carry the entire second half of the film. They both share a gorgeous dynamic. Mulligan succeeded in making everyone around me grab a tissue at some point. Truly capturing the frustration, anger, hope and love Felicity had felt as well. While Cooper’s performance as Bernstein was also worth noting and incredibly impressive, the dialect he used could throw one out of the film at times. Nevertheless, this film proved that Cooper is an exceptional filmmaker. Although it tries to thematize a lot of Bernstein’s life events at once and therefore may lack in pace at times. It is yet a gorgeous film that is worth to be seen and one who was certainly made with the heart at its right place, caring deeply about the Bernstein family.
Review: MAESTRO – A Loving Tribute to the Late Leonard Bernstein’s Story Read More »
