Io Capitano
** Like most 16-year-olds, Seydoux (Seydoux Starr) wants more in life. His family home in Dakar, Senegal is small, his construction job is monotonous, and his little world is more or less run by his mother and his sisters. This is a classic film in which Seydoux and his cousin Moussa (Mustafa Fall) embark on an arduous adventure across North Africa in hopes of reaching Italy, starting his musical career, and sending money home. It is the starting point for masculine exploration. When the journey begins, Io Capitano It’s a standard but influential drama about the horrors of carnage experienced by illegal immigrants, and (with all due respect) it’s the kind of drama made specifically to be nominated for the Best International Feature Film Oscar. It’s a drama. Io Capitano teeth. In a struggle defined by dirty cops, traffickers, and broken dreams, Italian director Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah, dogman) drew sympathy checks from anti-immigrant Europeans, perhaps even his home country’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The folktale framework lends the film a sense of narrative, but its conceit doesn’t always sit easily with the process-driven humiliation endured by Seydou and Moussa. Some of the interludes seem almost to punish the boys for having big dreams, and maybe that’s the point. Broadly speaking, their fantasies are nearly universal among teenagers, but only these two are met with xenophobia and machine guns. NR. Chance Solem Pfeiffer. living room.
perfect days
**** Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) wakes up every night without an alarm. Sweeping his neighbor’s sidewalk awakens the handsome 60-year-old’s daily routine, and the routine begins. While Hirayama commutes to Shibuya Ward to dutifully clean Tokyo’s public toilets, trimming his mustache, wearing coveralls, a can of coffee, and a cassette in his van’s stereo (Patti Smith or Lou Reed) there was. All we can say is Hirayama probably because he wrote five sentences. perfect days”First half–Dirty work is just a job for him. This work balances Hirayama’s passion for music, voracious reading, and lunchtime nature photography. It’s no wonder why the legendary Wim Wenders was the director (paris, texas; wings of desire) would be interested in expressing such a life. Who wouldn’t be a 78 year old Capital A artist? This is working class idealistic poetry (a la Jim Jarmusch) patterson) is about a man who accepts life as a series of days, but it can be fun if porcelain rubbing and creative rumination are treated with equal care. As the Cannes jury decided when they awarded him the Best Actor award in 2023, Bureaucracy makes all this mundanity incredibly rewarding. The Japanese star’s changing microexpressions reveal a character that is shy, boyish, or dignified when his coherence is interrupted by his colleagues, nieces, or fateful strangers. You may wonder why Hirayama chooses solitude, but his presence is both aspirational and comforting. Wenders exploits a rare cinematic paradox. In other words, we viewers escape from our own lives and focus on the lives of others. P.G. Chance Solem Pfeiffer. bridgeport, Cinema 21, Laurel Hurst.
doll to chase away
The first act of *** exorcism doll, Ethan Coen’s pre-2000 lesbian screwball comedy is pure disgust. The year is 1999, and two friends, Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) and Jamie (Margaret Qualley), are driving a rented sedan from Philadelphia to Tallahassee, and are more caricatures than characters. He was acting like. Marian is a bookish romantic. Jamie just wants sex, dude! The film relies so heavily on stock characterization that Ethan initially seems unsettled without his film director brother Joel (like Joel’s gorgeous, stern demeanor) Macbeth’s tragedy, exorcism doll is a Coen Brothers movie (singular). But when Marian and Jamie become embroiled in a conspiracy involving a hotheaded senator (Matt Damon) and a murdered dildo collector (Pedro Pascal), exorcism doll It comes across as a cleverly comedic and romantic provocation. Despite being set after Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, the film takes place in the ’90s, when bigoted politicians were more ridiculous than dangerous, and even the women of a Florida church were persuaded to support same-sex marriage. It is depicted as a time when people were persuaded. Kinky love affairs abound, but Marian and Jamie’s friendship-turned-friendship has a hint of Jane Austen, and Qualley plays the boisterous Elizabeth Bennet to Viswanathan’s despised Mr. Darcy. acting. Is it any wonder that Cohen wrote this jubilant film lark with his wife, film editor Tricia Cooke? Couples who play together stay together forever. R. Bennett Campbell Ferguson. Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Eastport, Evergreen Parkway, Fox Tower, Hollywood, Lake Theater, Laurelhurst, Living Room, Lloyd Center, Oak Grove, Progress Ridge, St. John’s Twin, Studio One.
Dune: Part 2
*** Just like any other sequel you’ll come across, it’s tonally and stylistically consistent with its predecessor. Dune: Part 2This adaptation of the second half of Frank Herbert’s groundbreaking novel is Escalation. We meet Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) deep in the deserts of northern Arrakis and learn the ways of the native Fremen, who debate whether Paul is the prophesied savior Mu’ad’Dib. Falling in love with fellow guerrilla fighter Chani (Zendaya), Paul seeks revenge on the invaders who destroyed the Atreides family and are now being strengthened by the sociopathic Fayed-Rousa (Austin Butler). I’m looking for it. Director Denis Villeneuve outdoes himself in the realms of scale and sensory impact, with production design that would make a pharaoh blush and sound that touches the bone (every scene featuring the sandworms is sure to astonish). But no amount of heart-enriching spice can convince audiences that Chalamet and Zendaya have romantic chemistry, and resolve their hard-earned conflicts with quick, unseen violence. I can’t even fully explain Villeneuve’s ingenious habit of saying this. part 2 Also realizing how puzzling storytelling can be when all the main characters are basically doomed and you’re not sure if they’re pawns, gods, or kings. complicates the coldness of the first film…or does it simply make it so by convincing onlookers of its status?The philosophical dilemma arises. It is expected to be resolved in the planned third film. It’s interesting to say that his 2 hour and 45 minute epic of this volume is holding something back, but Villeneuve is (once again) as good at foreshadowing his next film as he is at cementing his current one. Are interested. PG-13. Chance Solem Pfeiffer. Academy, Baghdad, Cedar Hills, Cinema 21, Cinemagic, City Center, Empirical, Fox Tower, Living Room, Lloyd Center, Pioneer Place, St. John’s, St. John’s Twin, Studio One.
lisa frankenstein
*** Fans of creepy teen movies will like: edward scissorhands and warm bodies you should find fun lisa frankensteinthe latest offbeat project written by Oscar winner Diablo Cody (Juno). Kathryn Newton plays Lisa Swallows, a sociopath who grew up in 1989. She’s been depressed since her mother’s death…and her life takes a strange turn when a Victorian corpse (Cole Sprouse) comes back from the dead and falls in love with her. I realized that I was heading there. Packed with Cody’s usual sour wit and quirky detours, lisa frankenstein The emphasis is on neon lighting, voluminous hair, and malfunctioning tanning beds. Director Zelda Williams (Robin Williams’ daughter) channels early Tim Burton with a juxtaposition of gothic and suburban aesthetics, giving the film a savvy style. Some of her and Cody’s choices don’t work out (there are at least two too many endings for her in this movie), but Newton and Sprouse are always there to keep the spark alive and work through strange situations. I enjoy their great chemistry. lisa frankenstein While it won’t be a hit with all audiences, it’s easy to predict that it will gain a cult following, much like the 2009 Cody-written feminist horror film. jennifer’s body. PG-13. Daniel Lester. Academy, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Division Street, Eastport, Evergreen Parkway, Lloyd Center, Mill Plain, Pioneer Place, Stark Street, Studio One, Vancouver Plaza.
Bob Marley: One Love
** “Sometimes,” Rita Marley (Lashona Lynch) tells her husband Bob (Kingsley Ben-Adir), “the messenger has to be the message.”Her affirmation reveals the next theory Bob Marley: One Love, the reggae superstar must learn to accept the consequences and risks that come with being an activist and not let them interfere with his mission. It’s a noble sentiment that makes for a fascinating story, but it’s undermined by the screenplay’s sterile purification of Marley and his beliefs. The story begins with an assassination attempt on Marley in 1976, which sends him into exile in London, where he recovers from the trauma and writes his groundbreaking ninth studio album. Exodus— Director Reynaldo Marcus Green occasionally shows brilliance, but he rarely rises above the clichés of an artist biography (king richard) and Ben-Adir and Lynch’s convincing combo (whose performances remind you that after playing a supporting role in a movie) no time to die and queen, she’s overdue for her own starring vehicle).perhaps one love‘s biggest disappointment is that it’s completely average. A man like Marley needs a stronger movie. Enthusiasts may find pleasure in hearing hits from this singer’s back catalog in surround sound, but not everyone wants that. one love If you appreciate Icon properly, you’ll find that the film’s message lacks the persuasive power of The Messenger. PG-13. Morgan Shonet. Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Eastport, Evergreen Parkway, Fox Tower, Living Room, Lloyd Center, Mill Plain, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Progress Ridge, St. John’s Twin, Studio One, Vancouver Plaza.
madame web
** After an unintentionally meme-worthy marketing campaign, several critics are quick to chime in. madame webThis stodgy Spider-Man spinoff, starring Dakota Johnson as clairvoyant paramedic Kathy Webb, is the nadir of the superhero genre. Certainly not. This movie is so bad that it actually fails to reach the minimum standards of being good. Superman IV: Quest for Peace (1987), steel (1997) or batman & robin (1997), except for a few heinous moments near the end (including the villain being defeated by a Pepsi sign). That doesn’t mean it’s good. Much of S.J. Clarkson’s film focuses on Spidey’s supporting role, as Cassie protects a group of teenage girls (including Sidney Sweeney) from the nefarious Ezekiel (Tahir Rahim). It turns out to be nothing more than Sony’s boring attempt to guess the truth. Johnson and Adam Scott (memorably named Ben Parker) breathe a bit of life into the story, as do some clever set pieces (the subway sequence is the most effective). But the clunky dialogue, sluggish pacing, and underdeveloped supporting cast reveal the desperation behind Johnson’s word-of-mouth promotion of the film as “you’ll love it.” PG-13. Daniel Lester. Avalon, Baghdad, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Eastport, Evergreen Parkway, Fox Tower, Lloyd Center, Mill Plain, Pioneer Place, St. John’s, Studio One, Wonderland Beaverton, Wonderland Milwaukee.
