2023 ends in beauty with a flower for France and its two days of unexpected projections ofGodzilla Minus One,Top GunJapanese flowers antimilitarism. While the dictatorship of the top is raging on networks folded by the algos, MaG n Do not hesitate to visit the links of the full reviews. We wish you great holidays at the end of the year and we will not fail to travel through the festivals in January. Meet Gérardmer!
Contents
KillerS7ven balance sheet
YOUR WATCH ON THE CINEMA WORLD IN 2023
2023 completes and should give grain to grind on the post-covid film health check. And it must be noted that this year was still marked by beautiful proposals with (cocorico!) very beautiful French pearls, enough to suffocate your uncle with brown turkey who swears only by theDanny-comedies. Much richer than an umpteenth Sunday film, the fantastic French cinema has even found its voice withThe Animal Kingdom And (in my eyes)Tropic, one of the most successful in theatres, the other being one of the worst commercial flops of the year despite its sincere qualities. As stated, critical successes do not necessarily coincide with the plebiscite of the public. Nevertheless, the genre cinema continues to take root in Hexagon.
The harshness remains for films that fail to occupy the spotlights with a budget that is worthy of the name or when Disney does not capture almost all the slots in the dark rooms. As inOur Ceremonies, Tropicdid not find its audience, the fault to a trip in the hollow of a month of loaded August. And that's the case, between the golden palmAnatomy of a fall, Farang, Yannick, Limbo, not including bulldozersBarbenheimerandMission Impossible Dead Reckoningwho played summer extensions! In addition to the expected and triumphal outputs ofKillers Of the Flower MoonThere was no shortage of singular proposals from industry that you were told throughout the year.
On the other side of the scene, it is difficult not to mention the case of Depardieu, the resurgence of the Weinstein case, which more than fifteen years after the #MeToo movement continues to produce its replicas behind the scenes. After the broadcastFurther investigation(decidently in vogue these days), one still wonders who is the most heinous: the pig or those who follow him and by their silence consent to it? Animated by a guilty mutism, however, the whole gratin of the seventh Art knew since beautiful lurette that it was a secret of polishing. «Ah, it's Gérard.» concert announcement of TV tray watchdogs and other proto-decerbates such as Cyril Hanouna's shoveled convent shows.
The media treatment of this case is a case of a school of rape culture, now promoted up to the highest levels following the ridiculous allowance of the moron of the Republic, too concerned about the last fanatics of the extreme right which still brings him allegiance. ("Jassume to tell the truth"... We too, Mr President). Legion of shame. Despite the waves, all these executioners keep the course of indecency even though one of the first victims who had the courage to testify has just thrown himself into the Seine following the return of flames from the revelations of the successful emission. However, it was in 1983 thatEmmanuelle Debeverwere one of the preys of theValuers.
Cherry on the cake, Christmas Day is a whole old world that comes to reinforce its signature to aHall Infamant under the guise of respect for the judicial process, which is known to be uneven if not failing. These signatories act with the same voice, as a class reflex initiated by Yannis Ezziadi, editorialist of the customary gutter of the journals reacs and therapists' defences. We already knew the conformism and enterrism of a privileged environment which was indignant in front of Adèle Haenel's insolence or more recently following the sweet words of Justine Triet at the place of Emmanuel Macron. It is that a director or actor is a performer like another. Understand that he must close his mouth except to follow the direction of the wind. Or, failing that, pay the costs of the project.Scream VII where the casting heads had to leave the ship, fired directly or indirectly, after having provided support to the main actress who had supported the Palestinian cause on the networks. As with PPDA, how many more complaints will be required before the Depardieu case is put seriously on the table? Legally the presumption of innocence is not intended to absolve the person concerned from any criticism, contrary to the idea conveyed by the supporters of the counter discussions which systematically brandish it as a joker card and as a safe haven against a supposed feminist vindiction. The feminine peril obviously...
We'd like to make these remarks look like a matter of manners and a temperament willingly grivois. In addition to the obvious serious nature, however, these are facts which may fall within the scope of criminal law and not merely a moral case subject to assessment. Thus the informed reader will be surprised to see the fact that the press benevolently relays (and almost exclusively) vulgar statements without mentioning the evidence of manifest harassment, sexual assault and rape by close to13 womento date (pending the following). The predatory nature of Depardieu's systematic addresses to the opposite sex is however clear in the disputed report. The self-proclaimed defense of the actor plays the card of the cynical comedy wayIt happened near youomitting that reality and fiction are not governed by the same rules. «Assholes, that's all, that's even how we recognize them.».
Finally shame should never rest on the victims as explained correctlyFlorence Porcelthe origin of the departure of fire from the PPDA case. This reversal of the emotional burden is all the more unbearable as the alleged perpetrators of these offences are very rarely convicted. So if 2023 was a beautiful year in terms of cinematic outings, there is still much to be done to clean up the production conditions of the seventh Art (and beyond).Don't erase the victimsand provided that the sacred monster descends back to Earth and loses its immunity, let us end with the icons devoured by power.
THE 5 FILMS THAT TOLD YOU THIS YEAR
As a very personal person and beyond the catch-up sessions that might occupy me when I return from vaudrouille, I particularly rememberTropic, sensitive filmEdward Salierwhich ticks one by one the boxes that fly at me: evolutionary photography, writing in tune, playing incarnated actor without superstars and, icing on the cake, an atmospheric OST terribly connects. From body-horror to skin flower where the twins Lázaro and Tristán work hard to be selected together for the Earth Space Mission. Their destiny will change, while a cosmic residue falling from the sky contaminates Tristán. Physically reduced and now intellectually delayed, the young prodigy sees this fantastic incident upset the family cell...Tropicis a deeply human fraternal drama, sometimes tragic, sometimes touching, in which the spectator will simmer from beginning to end.
In good groupie ofKirill Serebrennikov, I was captivated by Tchaikovsky's Woman. Throughout the film, Antonina slides towards a passionMaldiveswhere a form of sadism takes the step of possession, his refusal to divorce the illustrious composer allowing him to keep a last space of control over his life. We remain haunted by this kiss stolen between the widow whom we recognize in her veil and the appearance of Tchaikovsky as the ultimate hallucination to better reconcile two beings who «were behaved as in a dream, and [who] were unconsciously deceived in all» to take up the biography of the Damné composer. In my eyes, after Petrov fever, the Russian director and dissident delivers a new film lesson.
If I had to deliver my home Oscars, the heart's choice would have been about Maika Monroe in Chloé Okuno's first feature film.Watcher traces the story of Julia and her husband of Romanian origin, who leave the United States together to settle in Bucharest. While her husband is very popular at work, Julia wonders about her future life. In the midst of loneliness, she sees that a silhouette from the window of the nearby building... The actress is upsetting in the role of a harassed woman. Classic on form, this thriller hides a more assertive political object than an umpteenth story of bloody serial killers and inextremis police rescues. In a mirror, Watcher reveals the coldness of a society trusted by men who evolve in a hermetic sphere (even poisoned) to that of women. Where Maika Monroe could only flee in front of the excellent boogeymanIt Follow-up, the actress is determined to face her aggressor. With a striking accuracy, Maika Monroe holds her head high to her attacker. A whole symbol for the cause of women and a prank in gender stereotypes.
Ravission : term whose etymology refers to the mysticism of a «state of soul in ecstasy », « an emotion carried with joy». And yet the ecstatic revelation also covers a more common sense that limits the rapt and the fact «to take away by force». You will understand, I am referring to the flim of the same name made by young Iris Kaltenbäck. I went to seeThe Ravisation under the advice of Mr. Wilkes. And I came out like rarely. As my friend rightly says, «The Ravissement obviously searches the feminine and alienating act of giving life, it also explores precisely the mechanics of lies». By turning from drama to thriller to almost reporting for live delivery scenes,The RavisationWe're always carrying us. Never does the director give way to the ease of presenting Lydia, this woman who is a child-loving bruise, as a predator. The psychology of the characters stands at the height of his heroine wounded by life. Brilliant.
Before the censors of good taste jump to my throat after I only quoted independent films, 2023 will remain marked byKillers of The Flower Moon, bitter (but sincere) portrait of the beginnings of American capitalism forged on the blood of the natives. Scorsese signs in my opinion one of those films closest to reality. From staging to audio mixing, the film cultivates a rhythm on the same line of Crete: that of an apparent normality that covers horror. By highlighting the fate of the Osages spared by the genocide of the North American tribes but killed by wild capitalism without faith or law. Choosing the intimate angle that unites a greedy benet and a lucid woman but prefers to be blind, Scorsese proposes a remarkable cynical tragedy. Unfortunately, I was not (yet) able to write about the film because I plan to read David Grann's eponymous book. Promised, we'll catch up in 2024.
Good and since I'm an emeritus cheater, it's impossible not to mention a sixth movie after watching Godzilla Minus One4DX. In addition to the experience of this turbulent session, Takashi Yamazaki's film won over during its runaway release of just two days in France. And what a smack to light years of American vision. If one could fear the abandonment of the technique ofSuitabilitywith real actors in monster costumes,Minus Onefully succeeds his bet while keeping the approach and appearance of the films of the Showa period. And what a feat with such a small budget of just ten million when Marvel bouses benefit hundreds of millions of dollars for a result as generic as it is detestable. Far from the great spectacle that the neophytes could imagine, the film distils the appearances of the monster with wisdom while not sparing the imperial Japan of the Second World War from a bitter anti-military discourse. What if he was the 2023 movie?
THE ANIMATION FILM OF THE YEAR
Between the project of a lifeMad Godof which you were told in 2021,Deep Sea which has brought out the handkerchiefs, the visual delirium ofSpider Man Across The Spider-Verse, writingMars Expressand the fantasticThe Boy and the Heron, the choice is extremely difficult and since we have not yet had the opportunity to talk to you about it, even if to choose, I may opt for the last Miyazaki. A film that affirms the vision of an author who has nothing to prove. The Japanese genius probably signs one of his most black films where the symbol is omnipresent starting with the legacy of the animation master. At 82, the filmmaker will have dedicated his entire vile to animation. WithThe Boy and the Heron, the worlds he has created seem to clash and coexist one another to better free themselves from their creator. These universes never seemed as independent as if they could live without Miyazaki. For the next generation or for themselves?
THE DECEPTION OF THE YEAR
To talk about disappointment still needs to have expectations. If my film consumption is dictated primarily by the festivals, I still cultivated an impatience not concealed forNapoleon, Ridley Scott's latest polemic film that divides critics and historians. Past the eternal detractors of a filmmaker to the record as remarkable as his ability to troll,Napoleonis far from being a scandal for a historical biopic. It is even a film that offers a beautiful performance by Joaquin Phoenix, particularly well-recorded battles and sumptuous interpretations of Jacque-Louis David's paintings. Yet this good old Ridley seems to be depriving himself of sincere prospects; Worse, by going through thirty years of the emperor's life and despite the length of the film, we do not really retain any significant sequences. The people are presented in a crude and caricatural way and one would almost wonder whether it is not a black comedy seen by the English. It is also difficult to sympathize for the fate of his wife Josephine.
Napoleon's sexuality is also sketched without any real knowledge as to whether the purpose is to denounce the one who beat his companion or whether one should read eroticism (in which case not happened) during strange intimate scenes. In the stateNapoleonis not a bad film but a disappointment compared to the excellentThe Last Duel who put so much better his narrative stakes. Did Ridley Scott miss his subject? Unless the author's vision is that of the long version expected exclusively on Apple TV?
YOUR ATTENTS FOR 2024
With 2024 approaching, I am curious to discover the nextJokerAs much as I'm worried about her choral dimension with Lady Gaga in Harley Quinn. The first had succeeded in giving an original social reading to the negative ofBatman with a bitter critique of an American dream drowned by neoliberalism. The film was particularly relevant in an explosive international prerevolutionary context. There is no criminal born, we become. I hope the film will be so bold. I also look forward to seeing the next film with Nicolas Cage:Butchers Crossing. Despite the qualibets on the networks and the meme machine of Nicolas Fucking Cage, the actor dida talent in solid gold. and he is never as gifted as he works with independent directors (Mandy,Prisoners of the Ghostland, etc.)
After the first two cartoonsSpider Manwho revolutionized animation, the conclusion should hope to put a last blow in the anthill. But the film that I expect most is certainly the remake ofNosferatu (1922) by Robert Eggers who no longer had to prove his abilities behind the camera. AlthoughThe NorthmanThe American director had left on my hunger, visually could well make prowess especially as we will find at the casting Willem Dafoe, recently very convincing in the filmInside. This remake ofNosferatuthe German expressionism of theOffice of Doctor Calligari(1920) who fascinated me as a teenager.Case to follow... On MaG!
In conclusion, what better than a final with an A24 production? While my winter wanderings took me to Miami's basements and its shooting stands, I discovered the trailer ofLove Liesbleedingof the directorRose Glassto whom we must already noticeSaint Maud. Naturally it resonates like a future guilty pleasure and I am already conquered by its trailer veryBonnie and ClydeTo the female. On the menu, an intriguing duet Kristen Stewart Katy O Revenge, sex and big caliber, what does the people demand?
Baron's Review
YOUR WATCH ON THE CINEMA WORLD IN 2023
Every year, I challenge myself with the films I see. In 2023, I decided to devote each month to a different director, looking at at at least four works of his cinematography. Anders Thomas Jensen, Jean Cocteau, Huaqing Jin, the sisters Kuperberg, Makoto Shinkai, James Ivory, Maya Deren, Lee Doo-Yong, John Cassavetes, Nadav Lapid, Aki Kaurismäki and Pietro Germi will have rhythmed my year, much more than the weekly releases and the ups and downs of the industry. I wanted to take a distance on the individuality of a film, to try to put it back into the whole of a work in the long run.
This objective led to an unusual approach to the 2023 vintage. Instead of focusing on these movies that shake the crowds, shake the editorial columns and stir up the figures of the box office, I preferred to turn to a heritage cinema whose past hours of glory did not reduce their charms. Dive into these works that spread collective memory...
Far from this little personal whim, 2023 will remain before the year of the strike. A historic event that jointly enabled the American trade unions of the actors and the writers to assert their rights in a fierce battle lasting several months. David's fight against Goliath in which the strikers were able to stand firm and preserve a favorable public opinion, despite the impact of their demands. In addition to the numerous postponements of exit dates, the economic cost of the strike is estimated at over $6 billion. And if we can rejoice at their victory, we must not forget the French audiovisual sector, which is still fighting to make its demands heard.
THE 5 FILMS THAT TOLD YOU THIS YEAR
We may not love it, criticize it and blame it a lot, but we can never withdraw from it.BabylonThe creative envy he inspires. This desire to feel punctured by the cinema, to grab a camera, to motivate the first people who came and to film, again and again, without ever stopping. The whirlwind of colors and sensations in which the film takes us intoxicated and makes us dream of a golden ideal, past. Through these four main characters, he makes us feel as closely as possible the heartbeat of a period with multiple, sudden and surprising changes. He ostensibly chose to take Hollywood to his own game and print the legend, much more than to talk about the facts. And for a moment, just one, I would have liked to tread the Californian dust to see the magic of a kiss come true before my eyes. Feeling the bust of a world upset by cinema. It's not a perfect movie, far from it. But it's a film full of passion for what it is, and that's all that matters.
It was at the detour of a summer retrospective that I met him.Erin Brockovich, alone against all. The film is an absolute favourite. Of those who register in the retina and remain there forever. Marg Helgenberger's interpretation when she learns the truth about water remains for me one of the most moving performances I've ever seen. A film far from some Soderbergh experiments, but which here takes advantage of the meeting of actors and technicians at the top of their art, in a synergy such that the film cannot be forgotten.
After eating hideous and insipid falafels, I find myself in a cinema to discoverPassagesIra Sachs. I thought I had missed a little, this last-minute catch-up opened my eyes to a director's universe, both raw and enchanting. He has been able to speak here about today's relations, which, in the illusion of their apparent strength, are being defeated and re-established so quickly. Watch this strange and personal cocktail that sex and feelings provide. The whole led by a wretched protagonist, unable to make a decision and causing pain to those around him without claping his eyes. The strength of the film, however, is to succeed in creating in spectators of empathy in front of this prepuberous and immature behavior. Again hypnotized by the body ballet that Franz Rogowski, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Ben Whishaw had just realized before my eyes, I could not get out of my seat.
You can say that everything smiles at Monia Chokri. After being noticed for her talents as an actress, her third filmSimple as Sylvainends showing to everyone his undeniable talent. She is now one of the most important directors. S like Sylvain, P like Passion, A like Love. It is always wonderful to see Chokri's camera flirting in such skillfully orchestrated mess situations. Where dialogues and gazes clash without ever leaving a time of respite, where chaos seems to take place, action is always an incredible clarity. It is also a pleasure to see her playing with images and film language. To indulge in zooms that elsewhere could have been perceived as vulgar. Cuts seen as too brutal. With each film, she builds a little more a universe from which one can only quicken to want to see the rest.
I'll close here with the last moment I've lived in the hall:And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine, the documentary of the duo Danielson/Van Aertryck. A first feature film for these two Swedish who offers a reflection on the camera as an object and the images it can produce. Through a succession of examples taken throughout the history of the apparatus and its various modes of use, the film places the church in the middle of the village. It recalls the strength and power that the images we produce can have, without even questioning us any more, as they have become banal. And he knows how to do all this without ever judging those to whom he addresses, capable of the worst drifts, but providing all the tools necessary for reflection.
THE ANIMATION FILM OF THE YEAR
If I took away from all the animated releases this year, the film in this category that had the most impact on me is none other than...Chihiro's Journeyfrom Hayao Miyazaki. I saw him again more than twenty years after the first childish terror he had brought me. A fear like I didn't dare open the drawer in which the DVD was stored. Today, an adult, I discovered this masterpiece again under a new eye. I was finally able to welcome with open arms the biscorned world he proposes and let me be rocked by his enchanting soundtrack. Every scene, every change of plan, every new character encountered by Chihiro is a poetic discovery. A continuous wonder without a soft belly, as it is so rare to find. A film that didn't take a wrinkle and doesn't have to blush in front of the last-born Ghibli studio.
THE DECEPTION OF THE YEAR
This year will have been marked by a « Good luck » For me. The most desperate films, the worst ones are those I discovered by chance. From the hollowSuper Mario Bros. the filmA dramatic exaggerationThe Son, passing through the too smoothWonkaor at the detour of undecidedFerrariThere was no expectation. Only unpleasant surprises. Yet there is one that has been a real cold shower, from beginning to end. This movie isAcidJust Philippot...
Barely the first sequence had begun that seemed to resonate with the cracking failure. On arrival, it is difficult to say what worked the least well between the feverish scenario, random distribution and the multitude of risky choices. The film constantly shoots bullets in the foot, not wanting to afford to become what it could have been. A lack of ambition that kills in the egg a rare object, a French catastrophe film. It is not, however, for lack of having tried, but it is impossible to censor a work that tries to get out of the lot when it puts its feet in the carpet. If, for example, acid rain had been assumed as a real character and filmed as the antagonist that they should have been, the film could have reached another dimension that is sorely lacking.
YOUR ATTENTS FOR 2024
I'm not a long termist. Every year, this question falls on me. And like every year, I can't help but kill when it comes to finding a satisfactory answer... I'm waiting for the various films that had lured us for the end of 2023, unfortunately pushed back by the strike.Dune – Part Twoin mind.
I'm waiting for the various festival selections to do their compass work in the midst of the ever-increasing global production. I'm waiting for the Oscar ceremony and his award. This year should offer a tough fight and an unbearable suspense between the favourites of the competition, and the many outsiders who did not say their last word. However, if I were to quote only three titles, I would chooseDream ScenarioKristoffer Borgli and his mysterious script for Nicolas Cage,Poor creaturesby Yórgos Lánthimos in order to plunge into the work of the famous eccentric Greek and finally,The Zone of InterestJonathan Glazer to be certainly bluffed.
Celeste Wolf Review
YOUR WATCH ON THE CINEMA WORLD IN 2023
While a new film year is about to close, the time is definitely on the record! There were promises:Ryan GoslingandMargot Robbieplastic dolls forBarbiethe return ofChristopher NolanwithOppenheimeror even the last whiplash ofHarrison FordinIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
There were the facts: A film year that shined (artistically or economically) through the eyes of children (Anatomy of a fallandThe Fabelmans) or when it was addressed to nostalgic adults (Barbie, Super Mario Bros. the film).
And while works with artistic ambitions authoring (Tár, Killers of the Flower Moon) were able to find (rightly) a large audience, it was the traditional blockbusters who failed to seduce the crowds (Fast & Furious X, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1). Tired franchises or signs of some weariness towards large ultra-calibre machines (couchou)onMCU)? The question should be asked.
Finally, far from Hollywood and its global ambitions, French cinema saw an increase in its production in addition to sitting at the table of the American giant on the side of the fantastic (The Animal Kingdom), action (Farang) and the epic fresco (the diptychThe Three Musketeers).
THE 5 FILMS THAT TOLD YOU THIS YEAR
While I was talking a few moments ago about the importance of children in the film year that just passed away, these are the teenage brothers of hybrid science fictionTropicWho will have the most upset...
As it overflows humanity and visually grandiose (a 16 mm camera capture at the shoulder when the teen fire burns that evolves towards digital 4K stabilized at the hour of responsibility), this family drama on disability (where comes outbody horror at the Cronenberg) imposes itself as a sincere and rarely accurate work with two actors in the firmament. In five chapters mixing rivalry, denial, rejection, hatred and love, it is a magnificent and upsetting story about fraternal ties that is told to us.
After that, impossible to evoke the films that marked my film year not to mention the return of the black thriller with the close releases ofMisanthrøpeandLimbo…
The first, under his classical urban polar look, paints the vitriolal portrait of contemporary America in parallel with his intrigue police... The tracking of a mass killer elusive to atypical motives (denunciation of a system) by an investigator damaged by existence but enlightened by her own demons. Undoubtedly the worthy heir of Seven whose counterpoint he is.
As for the second, visceral polar in the black and white expressionist, extreme violence and characters in the midst of atonement, he probes the darkness of humanity in a morbid urban purgatory, a theatre of sordid crimes (committed by a serial killer fetishist) where putrefaction permeates each plan. A nightmare awakened with squeaky moisture and at the border of complacency where everything is only despair... Starting with the existence of beings « live » he's scrutinizing.
But there is not only darkness in life, there is also the color and more precisely the pastel palette of the dandyWes Andersonwho, at the top of his art, had the right idea to broaden his (magnificent) framework to evoke the uncertainty of creation in theAsteroid City, a funny as well as melancholic choral narrative where the characters, whose desire to exist is palpable despite the existential emptiness of their lives (the crater), meet in meta scenes that do not turn empty. You can't wake up if you don't sleep!
And if the colors are not enough to put balm in your heart, no doubt the (good) food will succeed. Reserve a table forThe Passion of Dodin Buffant, sweet and sensory culinary romance at the stage as refined as a great cru, where French gastronomy is celebrated with a cast of choice on the menu (old coupleJuliette Binoche – Benoît Magimel). And since the feast is laborative, it is without moderation that it should be tasted!
THE ANIMATION FILM OF THE YEAR
Far from the worlds ofPixar(even ifElementaryis a lovely romantic comedy) andGhibli, it's for the monstrous creationMad GodThat I've had love at first sight...
As a result of a thorough work of more than 30 years, this visually revolutionary mad project (different animation techniques are at work) that is due to thePhil Tippett, genius of animatronics behind the unforgettable creatures of the original trilogyStar Wars, RobocoporStarship Troopers, pushes the limits of imagination as the future ruins of humanity, populated by monstrous creatures guided by self-destruction, explore within amaze nightmaredesqueNo other way. And if it is easy to lose it, the fault of an uncertain narrative, the evocative force of its images suffices to capture attention.
But as I also kissed New York pizzaNinja Turtles: Teenage YearsIt will be a double dose of animation as far as I'm concerned...
Indeed, dusted bySeth Rogenand painted in a notebook of college students (a plainly fresh urban graphic paw), our knights of scales and vinyl adherents of references to pop culture come back in a teenage chronicle full of tenderness and action, which impresses both by his freedom of tone (a humour well anchored in his time) and by his incarnate dramaturgy (despite a classical unfolding). Galvanizing this new youth!
THE DECEPTION OF THE YEAR
No, I'm not going to go back to a large majority of US blockbusters (The FlashorAnt-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaIt is too easy to shoot the ambulance. Instead, I will rather react to the lies that areWin or DieandBarbie…
History for the first: The promise? TheBraveheartFrench! Reality? NewVercingetorixproduced by the Puy du Faux! For without even mentioning the dangerous counter-revolutionary revisionism of the History of France (a royalist leaflet written with big hoofs), this « epic » at the service of the identity right serige in anti-cinema to biased vision. Thinking at the beginning as a docu-fiction to the TV (it can be seen) before going on a crusade in the dark rooms, she forgets all the scenography and content herself with clumsy stacking the scenes (with a voice off trying to paste the pieces and ellipses do you want some) where the out-of-field is king (but what became the battles?) and the epic breath absent. The staging is hard to see (a camera with the shoulder that seems lost), the casting is very uneven (Hugo Beckeris being playedClint Eastwoodof the poor in depressive mode), the characters are abandoned throughout and only the reconstruction has panache. Mass is said!
Marketing for the second: Because if it's not plastic (a stunning artistic direction and an opportune staging), this absurdly humorous pop satire that dynamizes the ringuard and controversial image of its star doll (the casting is great) to make it a feminist icon opposed to patriarchy, however, remains a giant (mal) product placement camouflaged under a layer of pink glitter. More inclusive and therefore more profitable, there is no doubt that Barbies will (re)sell like buns! And as I said so wellRuben Östlund"For me, it's cynicism disguised as optimism. (...) A toy maker who finances his own film and buys an American filmmaker in order to make these very old game dolls more presentable (...)".
YOUR ATTENTS FOR 2024
They are many to say true and anyway, whether it rains or it is beautiful, there is always a good excuse to escape in front of a good film. So here's my selection for the year 2024 that promises to be rich in cinema despite the postponements related to the recent strike SAG-AFTRA:
Furiosa – A Saga Mad Max, the prequel of the ode with cracked sheetFury Road, Joker – Twofoldto see where the inexorable fall will lead to madnessArthur Fleck, Dune – Part Twoin order to continuethe magistrale of the sandsof theDenis VilleneuvebothHorizon: An American SagabecauseKevin Costneris behind (and in front) the camera,The Count of Monte Cristoto find there the chivalrous fergue of the diptychThe Three MusketeersAnd finally,The Planet of the Apes: The New KingdomFor 300 years after Caesar's reign, the monkeys have definitively taken over mankind. Lets wait and see...
Review of Mr. Wilkes
YOUR WATCH ON THE CINEMA WORLD IN 2023
The year 2023 was a pure year of cinema for women! With the discovery of the universe of Iris Kaltenbäck (and its splendidThe Ravisation), the colossal sacre of Justine Triet (Anatomy of a fall), the splendour of Charlotte Wells' image (Aftersun), the arrival of Ramata Sy (Banel and Adama) or the powerful but unequal films about Lucie Borleteau's desire (To my only desire) and Anissa Bonnefont (The House), a real (and salvatrice) wave of new directors is rolling on world cinema... And God knows if it feels good! In spite of this, figures released last spring do show that parity in the world of cinema is far from being acquired withconstantly lower budgets for directors... There is still a long way to go before an alleged equality.
In parallel with this arrival of new filmmakers, 2023 has been an opportunity for me to discover particularly rewarding heritage cinema. Diving in short filmsAgnes Varda, navigating between documentary and fiction, prepared for the discovery of his filmHappiness(1965) which I hold as one of the most moving visions of this year. In a completely different register, it is the filmography ofCatherine Breillatthat I've been able to start surveying since his very firstA True Young Girlwhich is echoed in the last feature film she has released to date,Last summer.
If 2023 has not been a great cuvée of horror films,The House (Skinamarink) by Kyle Edward Ball available on Shadowz and incontourableBeautiful is afraidari aster sounded like two detonations in the midst of an increasingly bleak and consensual landscape (Hand, Simetierre, The Nun,...). By expanding to gender in general, we note thatConann by Bertrand Mandico has made it possible to interest in the completely barred universe of the director, especially in the level ofhis short filmsof whichBoro in the Box, Living Still LifeandUltra Pulpare real nuggets visually and thematically intoxicating.
Finally, 2023 was also a beautiful year of documentaries! In addition to humanity ofOn Adamantby Nicolas Philibert, Wim Wenders has rewarded us with a sumptuousAnselm – The Noise of Timefocused on artist Anselm Kiefer whileKims VideoDavid Redmon and Ashley Sabin shook by his absolutely free form and love of the physical format that he screams in each of his plans.
THE 5 FILMS THAT TOLD YOU THIS YEAR
The years pass, Benoit Magimel stays.PacificationdThe Passion of Dodin Buffantwho takes this place at the top. An absolutely dizzying film by Trenn Anh Hùng about culinary art, transmission and desire. A true symphony of the senses perspiring to each of his plans. Maybe the top of what I saw in theaters this year...
We talked about it earlier, the second most upsetting film of the year is going to look for the British side with young Charlotte Wells. Indeed, with itsAftersunIt offers one of the most beautiful 2023 film duos, played by young Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal. An entire film built on the notions of memory and nostalgia, particularly well highlighted by the discreet staging of its director. You will never hear moreUnder PressureBowie and Mercury in the same way...
Double beautiful discoveries of the year, the bookThe Beast of the JungledThe Beastby Bertrand Bonello (who will be released at the beginning of 2024) andThe Beast in the jungleof Patric Chiha. Dilatation of time, freedom from memory, whirlwinds of sensations, films that knew, each in their own way, to adapt a particularly rich literary soil despite the brevity of Henry James' novel.
Last discovery of the year and not least,Yannickby Quentin Dupieux. Surprise film of barely an hour and ten featuring Blanche Gardin, Pio Marmaï and especially the great Raphaël Quenard,Yannickunfolds a double discourse on the very art of cinema and the notion of entertainment. As hilarious as it is deep, the master of the absurd proves to us once again his maestria as storyteller of our time by searching a tragic vein that was already caught in his precedents, asIncredible but trueorSmoking makes cough.
THE ANIMATION FILM OF THE YEAR
No doubtThe Kingdom of Abysses (Deep Sea) by Tian Xiao-Peng! A Chinese animated film discovered at the NIFFF, which, through an upsetting story and a trumped-up visual universe, unfolds a particularly striking double discourse on China today. Its release in February 2024 should not be missed as the film benefits from a viewing in a cinema and in 3D! Honorable mention however toSpider-Man: Across the Spider-VerseandThe Boy and the Heron, two great success amply deserved last year in animation.
THE DECEPTION OF THE YEAR
About all the big Hollywood machines,Barbie, OppenheimerorSuper Mario Bros... Big shows often devitalized, compendiums of make-up marketing, false subversion quite annoying, nothing quite significant came out of the American blockbusters turbine in 2023 (except for theJohn WickandMission impossibleIt's a shame.
YOUR ATTENTS FOR 2024
Pworks creatures,the Hollywood film by the Greek Yórgos Lánthimos who had already conquered with his cruelCanine. The rather laudative noises surrounding his first visions in the preview let a good hope... But alsoFuriosaGeorge Miller, even if the first visuals left on the canvas are not frankly reassuring.
Another project I look forward to? The rereading of the erotic novelEmmanuelleAudrey Diwan version (Events) on a scenario by Rebecca Zlotowski (Children of others), two great names of the new French cinema. But also and of course the return of Catalan Albert Serra after the slammingPacification... He announced a project entitledAfternoons of Solitudewhose central theme, Tauromachi, worries me more than it pleases me. The Spanish dandy will chain directly withOut of This World, a thriller that will be shot in the summer of 2024 with the theme of tensions between Russia and the United States... And finally, last wait, theDaaaaali!of Quentin Dupieux whom I had missed at the GIFF but who had greatly conquered withYannick. Case to follow...
Subscribe
Connection
0Remarks
oldest
