We gave the Guadagnino Burroughs adaptation “Queer” a go.
Guadagnino has a great eye for interiors but something just doesn’t sit right. “Queer” was mostly filmed on sets and it kinda has this airless feel. The 50s-era sets, AI-looking backdrops combined with the use of Nirvana, New Order, etc makes for an odd frisson. Daniel Craig is pretty good in that worldly worn-out Graham Greene vibe but nobody else really sticks (save for a great Lesley Manville cameo in the third act) and you find yourself just not caring at all about these people.
Sinners. Massive, audacious film that mostly manages to pull it off. It falters a bit in the middle section but the first hour or so is stunning, and it pulls it round toward the end.
Being lazy, it’s like Dusk to Dawn X Get Out with some jaw dropping cinematography. One for the big screen.
EDIT: just got out of the theatre, the restored footage is exquisite but the real star is the work Steven Wilson did with the audio, so so incredibly good
Absolutely loved it. Constantly introduced new perspectives, ideas and layers, yet still maintained focus and momentum. Fabulous acting across the board and visually stunning.
From “Fruitvale Station” to “Black Panther” and now this “Sinners”, I really admire how Ryan Coogler works in the highly commercial mainstream cinematic arena, yet plays with the form and introduces many rich and relatively unheard voices so deftly.
Watching Live at Pompeii brought the time in the early 90’s watching it on come flooding back. Particularly the parts where the band playing in the amphitheatre suddenly cut to them superimposed onto the basilicas of faces.
Finally got 'round to watching Victor Erice’s “Close your eyes” and so glad I did.
A quiet meditation on the power of cinema, the contexts of making sense of living, and some truly gorgeous lighting that seems to make utterly ordinary settings seem magical.
It’s over 2’30" long but completely absorbing.
And there’s a dog called Kali in it, who’s brilliant for the short time they’re on screen
Maybe a tad contrived (I didn’t quite buy into Samuel/Harris Dickinson getting a coveted internship) but quite a take on sexuality as well as being sort of an interrogation/flip on Eyes Wide Shut. Nicole Kidman is extraordinary.
Enjoyed Warfare. A pretty tense and edge of your seat experience for 90 minutes. The sound mix is outstanding and I’m not sure there will be a better opening scene to a film all year
come flooding back. Particularly the parts where the band playing in the amphitheatre suddenly cut to them superimposed onto the basilicas of faces.
