Dead Letter (2024)

Dead Letter in ingles means a lost letter, without good address on it, etc, that gets returned to the sender or gets back to the post office (see here). 

Dead Letter is also a small, one-of-a-kind curio film, thriller and horror but also experimental, in story form and execution, but mostly on score and sound design. First act is the best, as you don't really understand what is happening. Then you're set back in act 2. Also it's presented in grainy resolution, as it's a documented thing. 

Distyributed by SHRUDDER, this indie gem opened at  South by Southwest Film Festival last March, toured all the genre festivals for the past year. Written and directed by Joe DeBoer & Kyle McConaghy (BAB), starring cult actor John Flack, Dead Mail is a story about a synthesizer sound, a keyboard maudit, a kidnapping gone wrong, all happening in the mid 80's small American town. 

The score uses synth sounds and recordings of famous classical pieces, Henry Purcell, JS Bach, with the sound of Moog, Isao Tomita, JMJ, Vangelis, Keith Emerson and other maitres emerits du clavier modern ;)

3 1/2 out of 5, 7 out of 10 !

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025)

When you have a 400 mill. $ budget you can make the best and bigger film ever made. 

But instead you make a bloated overbearing part 2 to an enuff bloated Mission: Impossible 7: Dead Reckoning (my review here), film that came out in 2023 and disappointed bigtime performing. Keep in mind that movie cost 300 Mill. $ to make. That film was 2h43, this one is 2h49. Add the running times, 'cos basically it's the same film, and it's an almost 6 hours film which could've easily be told in 2hrs. 

so, part 8 it is. No more Dead Reckoning part 2 but A grand finale, as they promised to spare us to do more. The Final Reckoning.  hopefully last.

It's all Tom Cruise. Tom cruise on a plane, TC running (doing what he does best!), TC underwater, TC fighting, TC, TC, TC. 1st Mission was a masterpiece, done by Brian De Palma with the help of 4 screenwriters working their heads off. Then John Woo made TC the coolest there is. Then the next two films, meh. When Chirstopher McQuarrie, screenwriter of The Usual Suspects and attached director to Tom Cruise, took the Mission on its fifth installament it was a cool update. Hitchcock, opera set-up, more paranoia and a lot more running. Rogue Nation was good, Fallout (the 6th) was even better. Plus they were linked. But M:I 8 wants to link all Missions, especially to the original. So, Kitteridge is now the chief of CIA and you get to see that Shea Wigham is the son of Jon Voight (c'mon) and Rolf Saxon shows up 29 years later as William Donloe, from M:I 1996. Actually that was cool, cos it takes a funny line which is a Brian De Plama trademark wink and puts it into the film's reality. In act 3 the film looks like a poor pastiche of Indiana Jones, all geared up in a cave looking to kill The Entity (worst villain of 'em all if you ask me). The plot is ludicrous and it's repeated every ten minutes, every person speaking one at the time, no ever overlapping, like you're in grade A in school. Also an over-the-top pounding soundtrack which replaces Lorne Balfe with his disciples, two eager newcomers (Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey), and they fill the space completely, no scene should not have music and booming sound effects. Plus ADHD editing and curved camera shots. And TC running , oh yeah, did I mention that again? 

Well the world's fate depends on him more than it ever did of James Bond, Indy or Jack Ryan. He's the JC figure, the only one that can saves it. "It is written" (in the script I guess in Italics...)

Also a film made with the support of Department of Defense that gave these people airplane carriers so they can quote from Tom Gun, doesn't impresses me. The dooming feel these days it's not from AI but from the top of the White House and his omonim in Moscow. 

3 out of 5, 6 out of 10 !

*the rating would be even lower if it wouldn't be for the impressive underwater sequence and the plane stunt. Remember, a movie star acts and entertains, we don't go to the movies to see them doing superhuman stunts we don't care about. It's called Moviemagic and movie tricks are doing that, you don't have to sell every film you're in piloting your own, driving fast motorcycles. You're no Steve Mc Queen...

a good review writing what I think also in The Detroit News: Mission Failed. 

RIP Joe Don Baker

He was sheriff Bufford Pusser, Walking Tall. He was Bond's enemy (in The Living Daylights), then he was Bond's friend (GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies). He played mostly tough guys. Last time I re-saw him in Charlie Varrick (Don Siegel, 1974), where he played a ruthless psychotic killer. 

Joe Don Baker was 89.  He died on May 7th 2025.  

Obit in The Hollywood Reporter. 

Cannes 78: Palme d'or to Robert de Niro !!!

 Such are the moments of Cannes !

Honorary Palme d'Or to Robert De Niro !!!

At the peak of the evening, a standing ovation greeted Leonardo DiCaprio’s entrance. The American actor, who owes his breakout and his encounter with Martin Scorsese to Robert De Niro, expressed his admiration before presenting him with an Honorary Palme d’or:

 

“Tonight, I have the immense honor of standing before you to pay tribute to someone who is our model. Robert De Niro’s legacy lies in how he inspired actors to treat their craft not just as solo performance but as transformation. Robert De Niro is not just a great actor—he is The Actor. With Martin Scorsese, they told some of cinema’s most legendary stories, uncompromising stories. They didn’t just make movies—they redefined what cinema could be. They elevated the actor-director relationship into a crucible of risk-sharing.”

 

In response, the cinema legend addressed the Grand Théâtre Lumière with a call to action—for freedom and democracy, without delay:

“My sincere thanks to the Festival de Cannes for creating this community, this universe, this ‘home’ for those who love telling stories on the big screen. The Festival is a platform for ideas, a celebration of our work. Cannes is fertile ground for new projects. (...)

In my country, we are fighting tooth and nail to defend democracy—something we once took for granted. This concerns everyone. Because the arts are, by nature, democratic. Art is inclusive; it brings people together. Art is a quest for freedom. It embraces diversity. That’s why art is a threat today. That’s why we are a threat to the autocrats and fascists of this world.

We must act—now. Without violence, but with passion and determination. The time has come. Everyone who believes in freedom must organize, protest, and vote in elections. Tonight, we reaffirm our commitment by honoring the arts—and liberty, equality, and fraternity.”

To conclude this opening ceremony and launch twelve days of screenings for the 78th edition, American director Quentin Tarantino took the stage and, with full voice, declared: “IT’S MY HONOUR TO DECLARE THE 78TH FESTIVAL OPEN!!!”