And sometimes we see someone who strikes us as someone truly special. Someone we cannot look away from. Mesmerizing. Beautiful. And we have the urge to call them all mine. That is the overall atmosphere I can describe when thinking back to luca guadagninos queer.
it’s the time of the year again. Award Season is upon us. the Golden Globe nominations for 2025 have been announced today, featuring a wide of directors, performances, and critically acclaimed films and series. The awards, scheduled for January 6,2025, will honor achievements across a range of genres in film and television.
long story short: here are the nominees…
Nominations for the golden globes 2025 Read More »
As anticipation for the sequel mounted, Phillips returned to Venice in 2024 with Joker: Folie à Deux, a follow-up that aims to build on the original’s success while venturing into new narrative and stylistic territory. The film picks up where the original left off. Arthur Fleck (Phoenix), now firmly entrenched in the grim confines of Arkham Hospital, faces a high-profile murder trial for killing talk-show host Murray Franklin.
Review Joker: Folie A Deux Read More »
Luca Guadagninos entertaining new film “Challengers” premiered this week internationally and is receiving incredible critics. As it should. Known for his masterful touch in capturing desire and intimacy (as he did before in ‘Bones and All’ or ‘Call Me By Your Name’), this film immerses viewers in a world where competition extends beyond the court.
Luca Guadagninos ‘Challengers’ is sexy, brilliant and truly Irresistible 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 »
“Cheese to meet you” Yorgos Lanthimos’ newest film, ‘Poor Things’ had its premiere in Venice last night, and it truly turned out to be one of the festival’s highlights so far. The Film revolves around the curious Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) who was brought to life by London’s brilliant scientist Godwin ‘God’ Baxter (Willem Dafoe). He took her in and offered her a home. Explained the world to her and became a parental figure. At the same time, he is keeping her past and her origin a secret. When his student Max McCandless (Ramy Youssef) develops feelings for Bella and agrees to marry her, her adventurous and curious mind takes her to discover parts of the world with Lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) instead. The screenplay was written by Tony McNamara, who already worked alongside Lanthimos for ‘The Favourite’. ‘Poor Things’ is funny, intelligent and offers a truly empowering female character who challenges the patriarchic structures of our world. Everything down to the Production is a masterclass in filmmaking. ‘Poor Things’ offers gorgeous visuals, making this feel like a novel you just cannot put down. The runtime of over 2 hours is barely noticeable. The film can be utterly eerie and, in many ways, – without saying too much – also very disturbing (which shouldn’t be a surprise for those of you who are familiar with Lanthimos filmography). Nonetheless, it manages to discover emotions, thoughts and processes that make us all human and thematizes growing up and reflecting our world in a very fascinating and original way. The cast is astounding. Emma Stones is already a talented actress, but this is truly one of the best performances she has given so far. Bella Baxter is adorable and her character development is fascinating to experience. Noticeable is that through the naïve eyes of Bella, we experience an almost Barbie-esque feeling. In many ways it reminded me of Gerwig’s film. Stones’ character asks the right questions, no one else would dare to ask and never accepts things that do not feel right to her. While power-driven men are brought to the edge of sanity, Bella outgrows naivety and becomes a remarkable and self-confident person. Perhaps one of my favorite Female Characters in a long time. “Poor Things” is a film that should be seen on a big screen. Although it sadly may take some more time until its release due to the current SAG and WGA-strike.
Review: Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Poor Things’ Showcases Emma Stone’s Tour de Force Performance Read More »
I am sure we have all heard of Ferrari. We can picture the red cars. The sounds of the engines. Despite growing up seeing those cars race for the win, I never really paid much attention to their inventor. Nor did I know it was a two-man job between Enzo Ferrari and his wife, Laura Ferrari. After gracing us with films like Heat (1995) and Collateral (2004), director Michael Mann introduces us to the life of the Ferraris. While the film is mostly centered around Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver), we get to see a good look into the lives of the people surrounding him as well. The Film is a biopic, though it tries to back away from its clichés. We know very little about Enzo Ferrari’s childhood and dive into the story 10 years after he and Laura Ferrari (Penelope Cruz) built up their business and became well known figures. Nevertheless, the film at its core thematizes the topic of family. Which is why this turned out to be a positive surprise. Considering this is a movie centered around perhaps the most well-known race cars in the world, one might think the film won’t back away to be exactly that, without deep plot devices or interesting characters. But Michael Mann’s Ferraricares deeply about its source material and the story behind the Ferrari Family. After seeing films at the Venice Film Festival that offer very poor characterizations of female characters, Mann’s film shines with two very powerful women in the forefront. Penelope Cruz is a force in this. Her scenes, although little, are captivating. She is truly a show stealer, and this may be one of her best performances in a long time. Shailene Woodley, portraying Enzo Ferrari’s late partner Lina Lardi, gives this dynamic the heart it needs. And for those expecting to see a car race, ‘Ferrari’ does not disappoint either. A very huge event in this film is the Mille Miglia race, that is known to have a huge tragedy on its way. Although the audience can feel that something is about to go wrong, the tension and the feeling it causes in the end, is something one cannot foresee. The Scenes are graphic and seem rather surreal, which makes the fact that this actually really happened even more tragic. When seeing this at the Palabiennale in Venice with a crowded audience, the room turned completely silent. The film manages to explore its characters and offers a compelling storyline. However, one aspect deserving critique is the attempt to talk English with an Italian Accent, executed effectively and subtly by Penelope Cruz, but seemed rather distracting with Adam Driver’s role. Despite that, the cast offers stellar performances. A film worth seeing on the big screen. From us, ‘Ferrari’ will receive 3 ½ of 5 Stars.
