Unexpected or more so after abysymal BO performace and Reviews. Definetly not a film for 2026. A combo of Flash Gordon and Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 1), overlong (2h20 !!!; really?), some good humor and sexual innueundos in a PG fare, a dumbo Skeletor (unrecognizable Jared Lato with weird accent and Dr. Evil laughter does his bet job in many years here).
Camila Mendes as Teela is hot, Idris Elba supports bravely, Roboto is voiced by Kristen Wiig, James Purefoy is the King Randor, Morena Maccarin (the) sorceress in white and the lead Adam/He-Man- Nicholas Galitzine is funny and charismatic, also Alison Brie is fun as witchy Evil-Lyn.
Coming from a line of legendary toys (that I was never fammilar with), cartoons and comics which I never saw my only reference was the 1987 very B and B budget cult film of the same name and franchise (it was a Golan-Globus Cannon production). More so than then, this film doesn't take itself seriosusly for an even odd moment, it knows it's silly and plays it straight on.
Added value: the score is Fabulous, Power Rock pounding heroic symphonica metallic, another great one from Daniel Pemberton, one chord to rule'm all, Queen style, even features a Highlander song and puns, plus a clone Queen song by The Darkness and surely the sound was familliar because yes, the guitarist it's Brian May !!! That in itself raises the bar (and the volume) one notch (and a star of my review here). A Dolph Lundgren cameo (hero of the 1987 version) makes it even more tongue in cheeck. For the grown-up children ;)
What can I say? I expected more. But it's ok. Just that it's old news, the disclosure has been made my Spielberg in 1977 and in 1982 (E.T. phoning home ;).
This is really a Close Encounters of the Third Kind 'cos it's beeen done now the third time.
I woun't count the War of the Worlds which I hateted masivelly when it came out, called it War of the Tripods.
My most problematic aspect is the casting. Absolute no charisma between the leads, boyfriend-girlfriend, could be way better with another actors, Josh O'Connor and Emily Blunt didn't convince me one bit. What about the old Richard Dryfuss type, even the claasical Tom Hanks Spielbergian James Stewart type? The supporting bit was clockwork, Colin Firth and Colman Domingo all serious handling the disbelief.
Then, the duration. 2h25 could've been way shorter. Scenes repeat, chases repeat, peril repeat, mind scanning repeat, rinse, spit, repeat. like it's a TV series.
Also the deja-vu from the telekinesis/paranormal age of late 70's, 80's, from Fury, to Scanners, via Firestarter. Just add aliens, but it's the same chase, same plot gimmicks.
But John Williams did a serios job scoring it, coming out of retirement again for his buddy Spielberg, At 94 he still rocks !!!
The camera work, I have a problem with the design, moving in every shot, some cool tracking shots, 180 degrees to 360. Colors too,bleak, winterish.
The world of Blüesferatü – Eine Symphonie des Blues expands into animation through a special collaboration with acclaimed visual artists Costin Chioreanu & Olivia Chioreanu. @twilight13media This short animated piece explores the imagery and atmosphere of Blüesferatü — a unique live cine-concert project that reimagines F.W. Murnau's silent-film masterpiece Nosferatu (1922) through an original soundtrack of psychedelic blues performed live by musicians from Brașov, Romania. A glimpse into the dark, psychedelic universe of a project that continues to transform from one edition to the next.
As we prepare for our return to Bran Castle on June 27, 2026, this animation marks the beginning of a new visual chapter in the ever-expanding universe of Blüesferatü.
I saw this when it came out in Romania, in 1980, obviously opened here in cinemas with a certain delay. It was called Mica romanta, a fair translation of the original A Little Romance. Why they bought it beacuse it criticises the Capitalistic American family )sort of),same as Kramer Vs. Kramer or Champ, hits in the cinema of that era. Or and the American tourists in Europe? who knows. It was a treat, and one of the best films to run in cinemas then.
I was Ten so a lot of the film meaninngs eluded me. I loved and identified with the kid, Daniel, doing l'École buissonnière like me, watching films al the time, instead of going to school. Didn't fell in love yet but I loved the character of the old man, played with French aplombe a la Charles Boyer or Maurice Cheavlier by the great Laurence Olivier, whose reputation I knew already, so I respected him tremendously.
None would have a clue then who Diane Lane would become, though Sir Larry told people she will be the next Grace Kelly !!! It was her 1st film and George Roy Hill discovered her and the other kids, Thelonious Bertrand. Him unfortunately acted in only another film, today he is a hapilly married dentist living in a small French town.
cut to:
Saw it again in the 90's and absolutely loved it. Was in my late twenties, enjoyed the meta references of George Roy Hill showing his own films, mangled in dubbing in French (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and Italian (La Stangata aka The Sting). It has plenty of film refernces for a film buff, which was not a la mode back then.
Bonus films: The Three Days of the Condor (Redford pun again), The Big Sleep, True Grit, Hustle (why?) and the invented copiously titled Spasmes Frenetiques !!!
Arthur Hill is excellent as the foster dad, and Sally Kellerman tries to be as annoying as it gets as the distracted mom. Plus, a cool cameo by Broderick Crawford and a schlock director named George de Marco (De Palma, De Toth ?), played with sleeze approach by David Dukes- that looks a bit like Bogdanovich meets Friedkin , and the author of the crap movie, Lips / Levres !
Now, as a banale recommendation for a child's friend, a girl of eleven, felt the terrible urge of rewatching this. And of course it was an absolute pleasure, a marvelous gateau, from a moment lost in time, elegant, romantic, funny, smart and cinephilic.
Composer Georges Delerue received his only Oscar for this film. Great music, a tipically Delerue sound.
A Little Romance was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay by Allan Burns. His script was based on the novel E=MC2, mon amour by Patrick Cauvin.
A timelss gem. and a predecesor of Richard Linklater's "Sunrise/Sunset" films. Brilliance by a very underrated master-director, George Roy Hill. Another time, another space, lost innocence and beauty...
Max Cady is Back ! And this time he is Javier Bardem with a goat-e and Udo Kier type of Blue Eyes
The new Cape Fear is here...on Apple Tv + (premiered June 5th)
Episodes 1 and 2 were cool and atmospheric, but will it have enough breath to do Ten ?
we'll see...
very little from the original book John D. MacDonald's The Executioners (1957) stays on.
Also not much of the 1962 J. Lee Thompson original adaptation as Cape Fear in glorious Black and White.
cool title lettering, cool ideas from the Scorsese 1991 remake and homage (the shots on the negative, camera moves), and most of all the music stays the same. Bernard Herrmann's score, now redone by Jeff Russo.
Exec prod by Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and showrunner Nick Antosca.
***
1st episode, 'Fingers and Toes' directed by Norwegian Morten Tyldum (Headhunters, Passngers).
Ep. 2 'Why Would I Want to Hurt You?' directed by S.J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones, Madame Web), features a cameo by screenwiter Wesley Strick (who wrote the 1991 remake of CF).
Psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, therapists. Group therapy or one-on-one. Mentalist, alienist, psychoanalyst, shrink.
Speaking of the original HBO series In Treatment, which itself comes from the Israeli BeTipul, I thought of no better way to wrap up this series of rankings, especially since I had my share of shrinks in my time. :-)
The number one “psychiatric” film would be One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975, Milos Forman), but the psychiatrist there is merely window dressing; Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) is the one who embodies the oppressive system. And then there’s virtually any Woody Allen film, especially the Gene Wilder episode from *Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972), featuring the doctor who falls in love with Daisy the sheep, which I previously discussed in my ranking of performances in Woody Allen films.
K-PAX (2001, Iain Softley), in which Jeff Bridges plays Dr. Mark Powell, treating an alien—or merely a psychotic patient? (Kevin Spacey)—and the Argentine counterpart Hombre mirando al sudeste (1986, Eliseo Subiela), are really about the patients, much like Nash (Russell Crowe) in A Beautiful Mind (2001, Ron Howard).
There’s also Dr. Marc Chabot (Yves Montand) in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970, Vincente Minnelli), who hypnotizes Barbra Streisand and discovers she has lived previous lives. Barbra herself tried being a doctor in The Prince of Tides (1991), attempting to cure Nick Nolte.
But my personal favorite is Klaus Kinski as Dr. Hugo Zuckerbrot in Buddy Buddy (1981), Billy Wilder’s remake (and final film) of L’Emmerdeur (1973, Édouard Molinaro), unfortunately only a supporting role, complete with a fondness for nudist therapy.
And then there’s Dr. Elliot (Michael Caine) from Brian De Palma’s thriller Dressed to Kill (1980), whom I would call the “cross-dressing” variation.
Still, I decided to give the place to the illustrious Dr. Caligari. To paraphrase Siegfried Kracauer’s From Caligari to Hitler, this ranking goes from Caligari to Freud...
10. Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, Robert Wiene)
Variation: creepy
Dr. Caligari runs an asylum and uses the somnambulist Cesare for various dirty jobs. Similar to Edgar Allan Poe’s The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether and its idea that the inmates have taken over the asylum.
Its descendants include Asylum (1972, Roy Ward Baker), as well as the opening and cover art of In the Mouth of Madness (1995, John Carpenter).
Successors: Fritz Lang’s Dr. Mabuse, Dr. M, the mega-villains of the James Bond franchise beginning with Dr. No, etc.
Caligari controls Cesare, in a scene set to music by Lacrimosa.
(The full film can be found on YouTube.)
9. Dr. Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) in Spellbound (1945, directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
Variation: mysterious
A thriller populated by psychiatrists, fascinated with psychoanalysis—a fairly new concept in Hollywood at the time—partly inspired by producer David O. Selznick’s own experiences in therapy.
Psychiatrist Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) treats the amnesiac John Ballantine (Gregory Peck), accused of murder.
Based on the novel The House of Dr. Edwardes by Francis Beeding, the pseudonym of John Palmer and Hilary St. George Sanders, screenplay by Ben Hecht.
Memorable above all for its dream sequence designed by Salvador Dalí, and for a recurring skiing sequence.
Successor:Gothika (2003, Mathieu Kassovitz), with Halle Berry as an amnesiac psychiatrist committed to an asylum for a murder she cannot remember committing.
Trailer! (The full film can be found on YouTube.)
8. Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in Anger Management (2003, directed by Peter Segal)
Variation: out-of-control!
Jack Nicholson, usually the patient :-) (with the exception of “The Specialist” in the musical Tommy (1975), Ken Russell’s adaptation of The Who), plays an anger-management therapist—or whatever the proper term may be; the closest translation I found was “treatment for controlling one’s temper”—in a mediocre film that deserved a much better director.
A vehicle for Adam Sandler, who, when placed face to face with Jack’s explosive personality, is completely eclipsed.
Best scene: Adam, backed up by Jack, singing I Feel Pretty from West Side Story on the bridge!
7. Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) in the Halloween series
Created by John Carpenter for the landmark 1978 film.
The name was borrowed from Psycho, from the character played by John Gavin, Sam Loomis.
Dr. Loomis is Michael Myers’ nemesis. He treated him at the institution from which Myers escaped. He is also the commentator, the voice of reason, and the only character besides Michael Myers himself to appear throughout the series: five films, including Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, released shortly before Pleasence’s death in 1995.
Played by Malcolm McDowell in Rob Zombie’s remake.
On the nature of evil!
6. Dr. Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) in Analyze This (1999, directed by Harold Ramis)
Variation: sleeps with the fishes!
Mob boss Vitti (Robert De Niro) has problems and decides to see a psychiatrist. But nobody must find out. Otherwise Vitti might end up sleeping with the fishes too, Luca Brasi style.
Nemesis: Chazz Palminteri, to whom the meaning of the word “closure” has to be explained.
The dramatic TV version:The Sopranos, released the very same year. Which came first? Only they know who inspired whom, but Analyze This is the parody version, a kind of sitcom blown up to feature-film proportions.
Sequel:Analyze That (2002), also directed by Harold Ramis.
Explaining the Oedipus complex! “Fuckin’ Greeks!”
5. Dr. Bill Capa (Bruce Willis) in Color of Night (1994, directed by Richard Rush)
Variation: it’s so bad, it’s good!
The most improbable psychiatrist ever.
Color-blind, traumatized by the color red, trapped in a Hitchcockian thriller inspired in part by Vertigo. Someone starts killing off his patients.
The patient roster is practically a compendium of cult actors: Lance Henriksen, Brad Dourif, Lesley Ann Warren, Kevin J. O'Connor.
Steamy sex scenes with the then-young Jane March (The Lover).
Bruce also played a psychiatrist, Dr. Crowe, in The Sixth Sense (1999, M. Night Shyamalan), but I left him off the list for objective reasons: he belongs to the spirit world. :-)
A fan-made video clip for the title song (super-cheesy), performed by Lauren Christy!
4. Dr. Martin Dysart (Richard Burton) in Equus (1977, directed by Sidney Lumet)
Variation: equestrian
A drama written by Peter Shaffer, adapted from his own play, in which Harry Potter himself (a.k.a. Daniel Radcliffe) is currently appearing nude on Broadway.
Burton delivers a magnificent performance as a doctor determined to cure an extremely disturbed young man obsessed with horses (Peter Firth).
Nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay) and winner of two Golden Globes, for Best Dramatic Actor (Burton) and Best Supporting Actor (Firth).
In the original Broadway production (1974–75), Anthony Hopkins played Dysart.
Trailer!
3. Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss) in What About Bob? (1991, directed by Frank Oz)
Variation: funny
Bill Murray is Bob, the patient who relentlessly torments Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss).
The Romanian title used on television (since it never received a theatrical release) was The Psychiatrist on Vacation.
Similar: the Burt Reynolds / Dom DeLuise pairing in The End (1978, directed by Burt Reynolds).
The “Gimme Gimme, I Need I Need...” scene. (The full film can be found on YouTube.)
2. Col. Vincent Kane (Stacy Keach) in The Ninth Configuration (1980, directed by William Peter Blatty)
Variation: red herrings!
Based on William Peter Blatty’s novel Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane (The Exorcist).
How Do You Fight A War Called Madness?
A new commander arrives at a castle where he applies shock therapy to former soldiers suffering from mental illness.
An entirely male cast: Jason Miller, Stuart Wilson, Neville Brand, Robert Loggia, Joe Spinell.
A film about post-war trauma—in this case Vietnam—one of the greatest unknown films ever made, although it enjoys a loyal cult following. Now available in its longer director’s cut.
Packed with references to The Exorcist, also written and produced by Blatty.
Filmed in Hungary. The castle is Burg Eltz in Germany.
Successor:Shutter Island (2010, Martin Scorsese).
Part One: the opening sequence set to “St. Antone” by Denny Brooks. (The full film can be found on YouTube.)
1. Dr. Freud (Alan Arkin) in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976, directed by Herbert Ross)
Variation: Freudian :-)
The film in which Dr. Freud (Alan Arkin) treats Sherlock Holmes (Nicol Williamson), brought to him by Dr. Watson (Robert Duvall) for cocaine addiction—hence the film’s title.
Based on the novel by Nicholas Meyer.
Laurence Olivier plays Professor Moriarty and Vanessa Redgrave is the romantic interest, Lola Deveraux.
A special, one-of-a-kind film that clearly influenced Alan Moore’s graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Predecessor: Freud had appeared on screen before, from John Huston’s 1962 biopic Freud, starring Montgomery Clift, to the less likely incarnation played by Jamie Elman (his co-star from California Dreaming!) in the film where Armand Assante portrays Nietzsche, When Nietzsche Wept (2007, Pinchas Perry).
Marjane Satrapi is gone. They say she died of a broken heart...at 56.
She was the author of the great graphic novel Persepolis, about her childhood in Iran, filled with bleak humor, which also criticised the regime and made a plea for women there (and anywhere). That was made in a feature animated film in black and white (like the novel), co-directed with Vincent Paronnaud. Persepolis was ipart of Cannes Competition in 2007, it won ex-aqueo the Grand Prix and later on she was nominted for an Oscar, actually the first woman director to be nominated in the animated feature category.
She continued directing with Poulet aux prunes, The Voices, Radioactive and Paradis Paris.
statement:
“Marjane Satrapi died of sadness a little over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life,” members of her family said in a statement sent to Afp. Ripa, a Swedish producer, actor, and screenwriter, died on April 8, 2025. A series of posts on Satrapi’s Instagram page in the weeks before her death spelled out the message: “For I Lost the love of my life.”
The complete version of Kill Bill (s), aka The Whole Bloody Affair, is in Selected Romanian cinemas, for a Very Limited period of time ! With an Intermission too, just overlong, who needs 15 mins?? and in Glorious Shawscope !!!
Let's be Crystal Clear on this, Kill Bill was supposed to be just one film, not two, it was separated due to duration by the infamous youknowho producer and distributor. Tarantino was a bit upset but he conformed. Then he did his own cut. Now he even extended it. Results: a new film, better than any other version, superior in storytelling, rhythm, timing and flow.
IMO don't stay after the overlong credits, you'll get a boneheadish animation entitled The LOST CHAPTER which makes no sesne and it;s actually a Tie-in of a video game. Go home with the
Resume:
Kill Bill vol. 1 -2023 -1h51 = 69 % metascore nr 153 top imdb
Kill Bill vol. 2 -2004 -2h17- metascore: 83%, not in top imdb
Soundtrack: 'Music a silouthette at doom' by Morricone -from Un dollaro a testa Sunny road to Salina -Christophe 1970 The Chase -Alan Reeves About Here with samples from Rod Argent Zombies' "She's Not There" Goodnight Moon-Shivaree
The whole soundtrack here: https://download-soundtracks.com/movie_soundtracks/kill-bill-whole-bloody-affair-soundtrack/
Credits:
2004 -2025 restored, Visiona Romantica
Now the differences (atken from various sources on the net):
The first change you'll notice is an extra 10 minute animated sequence that shows O-Ren Ishii getting revenge on the man that killed her parents. It's animated beautifully and gives O-Ren's character even more depth than she already had. Secondly you'll notice that the legendary fight scene at the House of Blue Leaves is now in full color. With this scene in full color you get to really see the carnage that The Bride creates. You see guys heads being chopped off and geysers of red blood bursting from their neck. You see limbs chopped off with bursts of red blood. You fully see the red blood soaked floor of the building and the red bloody water of the pond. It makes the scene so much more impactful. The third change you see, albeit a minor one, is you actually see how The Bride interrogates Sofia for information. Which of course includes her asking her questions and in turn chopping her arm off for not answering. But the last change and by far most important is at the end of Volume 1, Bill makes no mention of The Brides child still being alive. That small change not only improves Volume 1 but drastically improves Volume 2. Originally you go into Volume 2 technically ahead of The Bride as you know about her kid and she doesn't. But that small change puts us on equal footing with The Bride. It makes the scene of her coming through the door to her child not just shocking and impactful to her but to us, the audience. +++
The old Klingon proverb "Revenge is a dish best served cold." shown at the beginning of the standard theatrical version of Kill Bill Vol. 1 is not present. A dedication to filmmaker Kinji Fukasaku is in its place, as was also the case in the opening of the Japanese theatrical release of Kill Bill Vol. 1. +++
While the 2004 Cannes cut of this film has had various special screenings throughout the past two decades, Lionsgate's 2025 theatrical release is the first time this unified version of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) has become accessible to a wider audience.
There may have been minor alterations made from the Cannes cut to Lionsgate's cut, but here are some notable differences that separate THE WHOLE BLOODY AFFAIR from VOLUME 1 and VOLUME 2.Modern Lionsgate logo plays before VOLUME 1's original Miramax logo. [*2025 only] The "Kill Bill" title card during the opening credits contains the subtitle "The Whole Bloody Affair". The uncensored Japanese version of VOLUME 1 is used for the first five chapters. In Chapter 3, an additional 7.5 minutes of content is added to VOLUME 1's anime sequence in which a 13-year-old O-Ren attempts to kill Pretty Riki in an elevator. At the end of Chapter 5, every shot after the Bride's final exchange with Sofie from VOLUME 1 is omitted (from airplane to end credits). Between Chapters 5 and 6, a static "INTERMISSION" title card (white text, black background) stays on screen for 15 minutes. "Lonely Shepard" plays over the first few minutes of the intermission with the remainder being silent. Everything from the opening of VOLUME 2 that precedes Chapter 6 is omitted (from Miramax logo to "Vol. 2" title card). In Chapter 6, the Bride's opening narration at the Two Pines chapel from VOLUME 2 is omitted. Entire cast, crew and song list from VOLUME 1 is integrated into VOLUME 2's end credits. The uncensored version of Yuki's Revenge (2025) plays after the credits, front-loaded with an animated lobby jingle. [*2025 only]
9 out of 10 !!! 4 1/2 out of 5 !!!
Mega-trivia: In Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Beatrix Kiddo (The Bride) is buried alive in the grave of Paula Schultz. This is a famous Quentin Tarantino "Easter Egg" connecting the film to Django Unchained (2012), as Paula Schultz is believed to be the deceased wife of Dr. King Schultz. This video explains the connection between the grave of Paula Schultz in Kill Bill and Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained.
Most impressive if you count the director, Kane Parsons is 20 years old ! It's based on his youtube found footage series & Kane Pixels.
To be seen and appreciated in a cinema !!! Really !
Plot description: After a therapist's patient disappears into a dimension beyond reality, she must venture into the unknown to save him.
I saw it tonite., and the theater was packed with teenagers. They knew the backstories, the innerworld of the film, the odds and inns. I guess it's one of the reasons Backdoors has a great thetrical run, the best of A24 til now (overpassing Civil War ).
Totally psychedelic & psychotronic, some M.C. Escher angles and tricks, reminding recent Exit 8, and some other cool mindf*cks, Cosmatos' Beyond the Black Rainbow, Tarsem's The Cell, Cube, Us, Severance office sets (actually inspired by the Backwoods originals) and Twin Peas Black Lodge landscape and soundscape, even shades of Eraserhead.
The production /set design is all practical, was built as a maze. And the colors (yellowish) and the lightning. Widescreen cinematpgraphy mixed with video formats.
Could've been more claustrophobic, and it has some weaknesses, clumsiness, confusing ideas, also starts too slow and it's too long, but still, as I wrote above, Impressive.
Chiwetel Ejiofor is Clark, the Alone Man, the furniture shop `Architect` and Renate Reinsve (fresh from Oscar's Sentimental Value and Cannes fare, Fjord) is Mary, a shrink whose book Window of self is a also a clue. Mrk Duplass is the Third Man, as a scientist with a more complicated backstory...
A sort of Malice in Wonderland occurs. Some RMI too, or not ?
And there is also a clue from a classic film and tale/book, The Neverending Story...
Anyhu, I hope a new serious genre Director was born...
Clint, The Man with No Name has hung up his director’s chair.
At 96, the legend has officially retired from directing. Clint Eastwood’s son Kyle confirmed it: the man who defined the Western, owned the action genre, and delivered Oscar-winning dramas has stepped away after nearly 70 years behind the camera.
From A Fistful of Dollars to Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, and Gran Torino — Clint didn’t just act in movies. He built an era.
Thank you for the squint, the grit, and the unforgettable stories.
The credits may have rolled, but the legacy never will.
Second Palme d')r for Mungiu after 19 years from 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 days, making him the Tenth director in the history of Cannes to win twice. Here's the other nine.
Fjord also won in Cannes 4 other awards:
-the François Chalais Prize
-Prix de la Citoyenneté (Citizenship Award)
-Ecumenical Jury Prize
-FIPRESCI award (International Critics' Prize)
***At the official screening the film was received with a 12 mins. standing ovation, a huge timing for the festival and a good barometer of the success of the projection, much more than the reviews and the trades star ratings.
Remarkable debut by Charlie Polinger (w/d). It premiered in Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section. Worthy of the DGA Award. Amazingly it was shot in Romania (by Abis studios, art director Vlad Vieru just won a Gopo for the Yellow Tie) !!! Great widescreen compositions. in 2.39 : 1. Also shot on film,35mm by Steven Breckon, another name to follow.
Joel Edgerton (also a producer) is the only adult name in the film, the rest is a bunch of kids, real talent. Everett Blunck as Ben is a stand-out. They won best actors in Sitges, also together with Kayo Martin.
Lord of the Flies in a summer waterpolo camp with shades of masculin Carrie. It's set in 2003, no clue why. It's gross sometimes like teenagers are, it's unpleasant and it feels real. Tough to direct all these kids, and as a first picture, kudos !
Also great, I mean GREAT sound design and a great score by Johan Lenox, reminiscent also of Pino Donnagio's cues.
Corsa Notturna(see, it's in Italian;) will give you goosebumps. It looks like it's Lenox' first real score too. Bravo !
Also Moby's song Feeling So Real will never feel the same again ! 4 real ;)
7 out of 10 / 3 1/2 out of 5 ! Deserves even more but my empathy was with the filmmaking, not the characters.
I caught up with Damian McCarthy 1st feature film Caveat after seeeing Hokum in a cinema last week and Oddity in 2024.
Caveat in Latin means Warning/ Beware.
Creepy, claustrophobic, atmospheric very low key and extremly well done low budget debut feature shot in Cork, Ireland.
Loses some steam in the third act but it's paced at 1h30 so it's all good. It's basically for the viewer a one person drama and experiences and emotions -through Issac (Jonathan French's amnesic character).
The harness is a gimmick worthy of Edgar Allan Poe's stories.
The film's dialogue is minimal, and the sound design/ soundtrack is keeping the ternsion up, as with the camera movements and the set design of the creepy house with falling walls, the basement, floors creaking and those distant cries of the foxes...
***The toy rabbit featured in the film was acquired via eBay by McCarthy, who "always had an interest in wind-up toys". It was stripped of its fur and sent to costume and prop builder Lisa Zagone, who finalised its design.
3 1/2 out of 5 / 7 out of 10
Sight and Sound: The uncannily claustrophobic design of the setting matches the tightness of the irrationally unfolding narrative in this slice of ghostly surrealism, so beautifully styled that you can practically smell the mildew-stained walls.
maybe the best, most intense horror of the year yet.
To be seen on the big screen. It's widescreen - 2.39 : 1, -by Colm Hogan, kudos! - but it's claustrophobic and the sound design is Great !!! And the music too-atmospheric, as a tool of building more sound !
From the director od Oddity and Caveat, Irishman Damian McCarthy, a name to follow...
McCarthy provides some genuine good scares
and gets a restrained performance from Adam Scott (Severance series), at his most serious and downbeat. His character is the obnoxious and depressed writer Ohm Bauman (reminiscences to Richard Bachman, The Shining -Kubrick's- and other Stephen King characters, Jack Torrance, Mort Rainey, George Stark included).
Hokum is psychological horror mixed with folk supernatural lore, but also a bit more,
Opening and ending bookends raise the quality of the film a lot.
Liked it better than Weapons and felt the kind of vibe Hereditary gave me back when I saw it in a cinema.
The 1st video from the new album, Speaking Tongues (out July 10th) is out.
In the Stars. With 'em stars.
“Some people seek their fortune on the turn of a card
Or throwing some bones in a whiskey glass
‘Cause if you wanna seek your fortune, need a lot of luck
I was standing there when the lightning struck"
Indeed ;)
It's a slick, big budget, high concept video for a cool song reminiscenting the 70's.
AI de-aging, etc.
Directed by Francois Rousselet, who directed also the most recent clip of RS, Angry from Hackney Diamonds in 2023, as well as Ride 'Em on Down from Blue and Lonesome (2016).
my buddy Ticke aka Attila Brushvox wrote about it here !
Gotta say I expected this for a while so my expctations were Aces High. Seeing all the docs about the Irons, it makes for a nice completion, and great to see it in a cinema theater (*although mostly empty :( but it is more or less a promotional tool for the ongoing tour, more than the coda on the story of the Iron Maiden legend.
3 1/2 -half star beacuse it ws on the big screen tho-
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