Spaceman (2024)

I wanted to like this movie more than I did. I tried. It has a lot of things going for it. Unfortunately, it just can't overcome the familiarity of its plot.

An astronaut on a solo mission to an uncharted destination misses his wife dearly. His mental state is deteriorating. Is he hallucinating that giant spider in the corner that he calls Hanuš? Given the fact that he's so far removed from reality, it's hard to know if anything we're seeing is genuine. Does it ultimately matter? Does anything matter?

It felt like this movie was on the verge of becoming something cosmic and profound, but then it soon became rather mundane. In the end, it's just another disappointing Solaris clone. I've seen one too many "man alone in a capsule" movies before and this wasn't one of the better ones. In fact, as a true lonely space cadet, it left me properly downcast.

2½ purple nebulous clouds out of 5

Saltburn (2023)

A pitch-black comedic thriller about a lower-class university student that develops a crush on his rich classmate who invites him to spend the summer at his family's mansion, where he quickly adopts their hedonistic lifestyle. The excesses in this movie rubbed me the wrong way the whole way through, until you finally realize the stakes of just what is happening here. Will push buttons and engage the audience ick factor more than once, but it's worth the price of admission. The end result is rather twisted and insane, but kind of brilliant.

3½ sips of bath water out of 5

An Education (2009)

I knew after just two minutes of hitting the play button that I was going to enjoy An Education, and that even if it didn't wound my heart completely it would at least leave a lasting footprint or two in my sand.
It's a coming of age drama set in London, 1961. Schoolgirl Jenny (Carey Mulligan) has a bright future, but love gets in the way, as it often does at that age. The focus of her affections is the older and more worldly David (Peter Sarsgaard), a well-dressed cad who deems it appropriate to date schoolgirls.
Carey Mulligan is phenomenal as the youth who makes adult decisions based on feelings and intuition. She reminded me of a young Jenny Agutter in many ways, channelling the same kind of captivating sincerity and believability. To experience her performance is reason enough to watch it, but there's the added draw that it was scripted by author Nick Hornby.

4 French phrases out of 5

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS [2013]

The Coen Brothers paint a dreary haze over a depressingly funny story, loosely inspired by folk singer Dave Van Ronk, with Inside Llewyn Davis.
Oscar Isaac is absolutely fabulous in the title role and with any luck he will gain the acclaim he's deserved for years.  Isaac's Drive co-star Carey Mulligan display a dark yet charming performance that matches the rest of the magnificent cast, particularly Justin Timberlake, who's made a smooth transition from pop star to actor.  With The Coen's O Brother Where Art Thou? music producer T-Bone Burnett on board I don't even have to tell you how great the music is.
It's a compelling gem of a film that is sure to please fans of the brother's more difficult films and probably baffle others with it's odd style of storytelling and miserable characters.

5 folk singers & a cat out of 5

NEVER LET ME GO [2010]

Director Mark Romanek & screenwriter Alex Garland adapt Kazuo Ishiguro's dystopian sci-fi novel Never Let Me Go with great success. 

This profoundly thoughtful coming of age drama is brilliantly disguised as a sci-fi film about harvesting clones.  We know from the very opening shot how it ends but forget as the film flashes back in time and focuses more on everything in between, leaving us emotionally unprepared for the inevitable.  Romanek makes use of warm colors and distant shots, giving it both life and a sense of lingering death.  The cast is perfect and never goes overboard with melodrama.  As devastating as the film is, it begs the viewer to make the best of what you have while it lasts.

5 sacrifices for nothing out of 5

DRIVE [2011]

What if David Lynch played it straight and directed a Quentin Tarantino script in the style of a '80's Martin Scorsese flick. You'd probably get Drive.
Danish director (of Pusher fame) Nicolas Winding Refn crafts a well-paced, violent, bizarre, heist thriller following the story of an unnamed character played by Ryan Gosling. It's got a supporting cast that couldn't be better, including Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman, Bryan Cranston, Carey Mulligan and Christina Hendricks. Everything about it is reminiscent of the '80's right down to the stylish score and source songs.
It's a quiet little modern noir that is easily one of my favorites of the year.

4½ stunt-double masks out of 5