The Return (2024)

20 years after the Trojan War, Odysseus washes up on the shores of Ithaca, unrecognizable and treated as a common beggar. During all that time, his wife Penelope has refused to remarry, despite the many suitors knocking down her door, and the treatment of her indignant son Telemachus who never knew his father. This adaptation of Homer's Odyssey removes most of the mythology but leaves the subtext intact. Ralph Fiennes is such a great actor whose eyes say so much; the stillness of his performance speaks volumes. It's a very slow movie—almost too slow—but it's very well made for what it is. Also marks a "return" (of sorts) for Ralph and Juliette Binoche from The English Patient.

3 arrows through the eye of an axe-head out of 5

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA [2014]

Irma Vep director Oliver Assayas brings us Clouds of Sils Maria, a deceivingly complex French character drama that astounds with it's leading performances.
An aging actress (meticulously played by Juliette Binoche) accepts a role in a play that launched her career many years ago, only now she's playing the older woman opposite the younger role she once portrayed.
Watching Binoche and Kristen Stewart, as her PA, is an absolute delight as the two clash, bond and observe the world with different eyes with such clever nuance, playfulness and sincerity.  Toss Chloë Grace Moretz into the mix as a reckless, yet talented, actress and you have some of the best quiet character driven scenes composed in a long long time.  It's life imitates art story is a familiar one but rarely is it graced with these sort of performances and moments of tantalizing dialogues.
It might seem like it's moving at a snail's pace but find it's underlying lessons & questions and you'll discover a thoughtful cinematic gem.

4 brain snakes out of 5

GODZILLA [2014]

Inspired by the '50's kaiju films, Hollywood decides to give the Godzilla franchise another go, after the dismal shit-heap that was birthed by Roland Emmerich in 1998.
Director Gareth Edwards knows a thing or two about giant beasties based on the success of his first feature, Monsters.  Naturally he's one of the better choices to take the helm for such a film and he really doesn't disappoint with this loud, flashy romp of a good time.
It's a slow-burning start to establish mood and setting, which left some movie-goers impatient but I found that to be part of the excitement when the entire theater finally did rumble and shake from the title character's mighty roar.  It's pretty thin on characters and hardly subtle with it's "nuclear power bad" message but when things start blowing up nothing else matters.

3 cases of nasty breath out of 5

Three Colours: Blue (1993)

The first part of Kieslowski's Colours Trilogy (made up of Blue, White, Red) is a film-lover's film. It's the story of a woman existing in a post-tragedy silence. The emphasis on minutia isn't just an incidental side effect of the film-maker's style, it's an integral part of the mechanics of storytelling. It gives the reflective aspects time to flourish and lets the bigger picture spread itself more evenly over the canvas.
Blue is also an excellent example of how crucial well-constructed music is to a film narrative. The two things work in tandem beautifully, culminating in an ending that's one of the most perfect that I've ever experienced.

5 counterpoints out of 5

COSMOPOLIS [2012]

Like a modern day take on James Joyce's Ulysses, David Cronenberg's adaptation of Don DeLillo's novel Cosmopolis follows a day in the life of a billionaire as his whole world comes crashing down.
It's a cold and calculated dissection of the upper class lifestyle, their take on life and how one can be so knowledgeable of everything around them yet be so emotionally sealed off.  Robert Pattinson doesn't miss a beat with Cronenberg's cynical, soulless narrative rhythm that will probably baffle and confuse the average viewer but should interest someone looking for an intriguing and nourishing conversation piece.

3½ rats out of 5

DAN IN REAL LIFE [2007]

Writer/director Peter Hedges does such a good job at writing family turmoil I'm not quite sure I'm always comfortable with it, even when it's a harmless comedy-drama like Dan In Real Life.

Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche do an exceptional job as the realistically written pair unwillingly falling for each other.  It's simple and not particularly original but the cast and the characters keep it from getting too stale or tiresome.  Just a pleasant view and nothing more or less.

3 murderers of love out of 5

Rendez-vous (1985)

French erotic drama peopled by dysfunctional, selfish individuals that have nothing appealing about their character whatsoever. There was only one person I felt any sympathy for and he arrived late to the proceedings.
Strangely, it left me with more to think about after it ended than was apparent before the credits rolled.

2½ I'd kick that bitch out the door out of 5