Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off)
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The Persian Version (2023) directed by Maryam Keshavarz
This one I like a lot. Drama/comedy. In some sense, it is an immigration movie (Persian/Iranian family that immigrated to the USA), but it is so much more. The first generation with their baggages (cultural and personal) from the old world and the struggle to make a life in the new world, the rebellious second generation trying to find their identities and place as they grow up in the new world, the complicated relationship between the USA and Iran that changed dramatically over time. Entertainment and good stories aside, there is a lot to unpack and mull over in this movie, intellectually and emotionally. Probably haven't seen an "immigration movie" as fresh and thoughtful in a very long time. Highly recommended.
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The Holdovers (2023) directed by Alexander Payne
Some problem boarding school kids are stuck in school during winter break under the supervision of a not-personable teacher, along with a cook and another support staff. Stuff happens that made the kids and the teacher better people and helped them get over some personal issues. The overall contour sounds well-trodden but this is actually a well-executed and thoughtful movie, in my estimation among the better ones in this genre. Recommended.
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It's a Wonderful Knife (2023) directed by Tyler MacIntyre
Slasher, with some comedy thrown in. Holiday related serial killing -- think the "Holloween" franchise, except this one is just the first film and it may or may not make it into a "franchise." In this one the holiday is Christmas. Many people die, lots of blood and gore, before the killer is identified and the motive exposed. Good enough entertainment, and among the better ones in the genre, if you ever want a Christmas-themed slasher film.
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Wish (2023) directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn
Disney animation/musical. Something or other about magic and the power of a wish; not sure if the details are all that important as the plot and premise are contrived anyway (and with most animation/fantasy). Not really feeling the music in this one. Animation and computer graphics are good but nothing groundbreaking, technologically or stylistically. Still a good family movie, just not "special."
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Thanksgiving (2023) directed by Eli Roth
Slasher, with some comedy thrown in. Holiday related serial killing -- think the "Holloween" franchise, except this one is just the first film and it may or may not make it into a "franchise." In this one the holiday is
ChristmasThanksgiving. Many people die, lots of blood and gore, before the killer is identified and the motive exposed. Good enough entertainment, and among the better ones in the genre, if you ever want aChristmasThanksgiving-themed slasher film.Compare to It's a Wonderful Knife (2023) reviewed in post #188.
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Deep Sea (2023) directed by Tian Xiaopeng
Chinese animation/fantasy. Something around a magical "undersea restaurant." It tries to be imaginative with the aesthetics and bombastic with the action scenes, and it tries to tear-jerk at the end. But ultimately I do not find the resulting product special or convincing as a whole. It sure looks like many people put in a lot of effort into the production though.
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Dream Scenario (2023) directed by Kristoffer Borgli
Drama. A college prof. started appearing in people's dreams. The prof. does not "cause" this to happen, he has no control over it what so ever. His colleagues, students, neighbors, friends, acquaintances, towns folks, strangers, etc. would dream of him, doing whatever or doing nothing in their dreams. Of course some of the dreams are "bad" or nightmarish, and over time some people start to find him "triggering" because he reminds them of whatever bad things that happened to them in their nightmares. The protagonist lost his job and became a pariah. After a while, with no rhyme or reason, the phenomenon fades away -- few and fewer people dream about him, and eventually things return to normal. The movie ends with some tech entrepreneur inventing a wearable device that would allow other people to "enter" the wearer's dream, and a new industry is born -- dreams become advertising spaces with "dream influencers" entering people's dreams to advertise things.
The premise is a neat idea, and kudos to the writer and director for their restraint to not turn this into something to be explained or turn this into some psycho thriller or supernatural flick. The movie just explores, in ways that are quite grounded to reality, what might happen if a person starts to appear in people's dreams. Of course there is more that can be explored, but I think the writer and director have done a good enough job of exploring the premise. Recommended.
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The Shift (2023) directed by Brock Heasley
Basically a Christian movie with a sci-fi skin. Satan tries to recruit some dude to be one of his minions who will torment souls by "shifting" them to different parallel realities (think multiverse). Dude ended redeeming himself by sacrificing his own desire/happiness to save someone else. Not a bad movie, but ultimately nothing all that new or groundbreaking.
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Saltburn (2023) directed by Emerald Fennell
A tale of a young man slowly taking over a rich family's estate and fortune, with many disturbing scenes and events involving kinky obsessions, sexual debaucheries, and murders. Also a warning: prolonged scenes depicting male full frontal nudity. Captivating, recommended, but nor for those with a weak stomach.
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Silent Night (2023) directed by John Woo
Dude's family killed by gang members on Christmas Eve. Dude took a year to train and plan, then exact revenge on those gang members on the next Christmas Eve. A competent production, but the plot is too well-trodden and this movie does not introduce anything that's new or interesting to this tired plot.
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Anyone But You (2023) directed by Will Gluck
Rom-com, a rather contrived and cringey one at that. But the male protagonist is ribbed and the female protagonist has impressive rack (impressive even by rom-com standard), so it will make a nice enough date night movie.
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Poor Things (2023) directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Sci-fi, fantasy. A mad surgeon rescues a drowned pregnant woman by replacing her dead brain with the fetus' brain, creating an adult female with the intellect of a young child. The film is mostly about the woman growing intellectually as she explores the world and learning the good and evil in it. It is competently produced, well directed and well acted; bold, imaginative, and thoughtful. Highly recommended.
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Migration (2023) directed by Benjamin Renner
Animation, about a family of ducks migrating migrating from New England to Jamaica. There is the "dad" that stared out risk averse want want to keep his family safe and never venturing beyond their little pond, there is "mom" who wants to encourage the kids to venture out and try new things, there is the wacky "uncle," and they pick up a bunch of other weird characters along the way. Of course the migration experience made them better ducks at the end. Nothing all that special, but competently produced and is a better-than-average family movie to watch with young children.
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Dunki (2023) directed BY Rajkumar Hirani
Hindi drama and comedy. "Dunki" refers to the "donkey route," an euphemism for illegal immigration. The movie covers two stories of illegal immigration, one when the protagonists are young and wanted to migrate from India to England, and ended up taking the "donkey route" to get there; the other when the protagonists are old/middle-aged and wanted to travel from England to India, but because they claimed asylum to stay in England before, the Indian government does not want them back in India, hence again they have to take the "donkey route" to get back to India. Of course you get many scenes depicting the hardship, dangers, and horrors of illegal immigration. Also in there is an acknowledgement of certain Indian mentality of the time, not long after India gained independence from the British Empire, that many Indians view England as the promised land, where their best and brightest want to go. Then later also another sentiment, that their old age, the Indians in England want to return to India in their old age. And, yes, there is an ex-soldier among the protagonists and Indian nationalism is again on display in this movie. Ha-ha funny aside, this is also a complex, thoughtful movie. Recommended.
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Weak Layers (2023) directed by Katie Burrell
It's a bit of a love letter to skiers and ski towns. The protagonists are a few female skiers needing to find money for rental downpayment and enters a ski movie competition to try to win the prize money. So it's also a bit of a "girl power"/"women empowerment" movie for skiers. This looks to me like a low-budget production, most likely an "indie" movie. Still, I get the feeling that this is a very sincere movie, that the people who wrote and made this movie truly love the subject matter. Recommended.
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American Fiction (2023) directed by Cord Jefferson
Drama, comedy. A black author, frustrated that it seems the world only wants black authors to write "black books," submitted a manuscript of a stereotypical "black book" under an alias as a joke. ("Black book" in this case means books that depict certain black stereotypes, like the blacks characters speaking ebonics, are discriminated against, are associated with gang culture and jail, etc.) To his surprise, a publisher is willing to pay big bucks to publish his "black book," a movie producer wants to turn his "black book" into a movie. At one point he thinks the joke is getting out of hand, so he tried to stop the joke by demanding that the title of the book be changed to "Fuck," only to be surprised to see the publisher accepting that change. The book has even been nominated for a literary award, one that the protagonist has been invited to serve as a judge. And there, he saw the other white judges wanting to award that book a prize despite objections from the black judges, all while claiming that the world need to hear more "black voices." Lots of material on the identity politics in the publishing world. This a smart comedy. Highly recommended.
(@Aqua-Letifer, if you ever see this movie, let me know what you think of it.)
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The Beekeeper (2024) directed by David Ayer
Action. A bit like a one-man "Mission: Impossible" or one-man "Fast & Furious", one super-fighter dude uses exaggerated violence to take down bad guys that the law fails to take down. Feels like this can be the start of a new franchise. Whatever, it's fast paced with exciting action. Don't think too much about it. It's good entertainment, a good popcorn flick.
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The Book of Clarence (2023) directed by Jeymes Samuel
Black Christian Biblical comedy-drama. The protagonist is a black Hebrew man who was a contemporary of Jesus Christ. The protagonist started out not believing in the divinity of Jesus, to trying to present himself as the Messiah (as a con), them finally accepting Jesus' divinity. Almost an all-black cast, only the Romans are played by white actors -- and the "fake Jesus," there is a joke in there that "explains" how the world later thinks and depicts Jesus as "white."
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I.S.S. (2023) directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Sci-fi. I.S.S. in this case stands for the International Space Station. The story is about how the U.S. crew and the Russian crew reacted after ground nuclear war broke out, the two crews each received orders from their respective governments to take control of the I.S.S., then lost communications. In that sense it's a bit like a submarine movie where, after receiving an important and unexpected directive, crew members are trapped in a metal tube without communication (thus cannot get clarification for the last command they received). It's a small production (six actors/crew members max, trapped in a small space station most of the time), but still I find it captivating. Recommended.
