Dune: Part Two
DUNE: PART TWO improves on its predecessor in some crucial ways, but the reliance on spectacle leaves gaps in the storytelling and a frustratingly ephemeral interest in the most interesting ideas the film brings forward.
All posts by Jim Ross
The Iron Claw
THE IRON CLAW is a familiar arena for Sean Durkin in terms of themes. Still, it has its own signature moves and an emotional core in Efron that will wrestle empathy from even the most outwardly macho soul.
American Fiction
AMERICAN FICTION never feels as cutting as it could be with its commentary, but Cord Jefferson’s debut feature is witty, with sharp characters, and engaging performances from Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown are the best vehicles for the script’s funnier and more keenly observed moments
All of Us Strangers
A beautifully touching central performance from Andrew Scott elevates ALL OF US STRANGERS to stirring levels, and Andrew Haigh’s directorial gift for eliciting emotional sincerity remains undimmed.
Priscilla
Never meet your heroes, the saying goes. Sofia Coppola’s PRISCILLA would posit that neither should you marry them, have a kid with them, or agree to live in their gilded cage.
Fingernails
Christos Nikou’s second feature doesn’t quite reach memorable comic and painful heights, but does have something to say about modernity’s continual perversion of the human experience and the need to dissect, categorise, and package it. Romance is far from dead, but FINGERNAILS takes a forlorn look at what might kill it.
Killers of the Flower Moon
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON achieves a delicate balance and underscores the dysfunction of America as a result of the pursuit of wealth; the warping of ambition into exploitation, ingenuity into criminality, and dreams into delusions.
Hoard
HOARD has some elements which could be tidied up. Still, the sum of this precarious pile of performances, imagery, and characters is a film of deep-rooted emotion and a beautiful mess by design.
Penal Cordillera
PENAL CORDILLERA delivers on its intriguing premise with a close examination of the characters of arrogant, formerly powerful men.
Fair Play
FAIR PLAY may not be as smart and original as it initially seems, but the momentum, central performances, and cranked-up drama deliver an engrossing takedown of fragile male entitlement and the roles many inhabit to advance despite it.