Clouds of Sils Maria is not the first film to comment on movies, theater, or the state of the entertainment industry, but I’m hard pressed to think of one that comes as ethereal as this film. There’s a breezy feeling that flows through the film, very much mimicking the cloud formation that winds through the mountain
Furious 7 is such a delightfully ridiculous action movie. I mean, though I have more to say about this movie, that line honestly could comprise the entirety of my review. This movie is such a fun thrill ride, with action scenes that will have you shouting “no way” and screaming “YAS! fuck him/her/them up!” while also providing a fitting send off for one of its beloved stars, Paul Walker.
I must make a confession before we get to far into talking about Cinderella, the wonderful new Disney film directed by Kenneth Branagh. The confession is that I don’t much care about Cinderella. I have never found the tale all that enchanting, Cinderella and Prince Charming are so boring, and it didn’t contain songs at the level of other Disney films. So why then did I thoroughly enjoy this version? Well chalk it up to some wonderful direction, lived in performances, and just a little bit of magic.
If there was a movie definition of the word bristling, Mommy would certainly be the representation. This movie, directed by Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan, is brash, aggressive, and all-consuming, yet there’s never a moment you aren’t caught up in its spell. It’s one thing to make a movie that’s incredibly charged with energy, populated with characters who are at once repulsive and magnetic, but quite another to add the humanist element that makes you extremely invested in the movie.
Movies can often stir up emotions and speak to a current culture’s issues and climate. Often times this is a conscious choice, but in the case of a film like Selma, which comes at a time where protests and racial conditions have factored into the news cycle, a film can hit a portion of the zeitgeist. Thankfully for audiences Selma is more than just a film that people are using to explain the now, it’s a wonderfully made picture with crackling energy and a larger than life performance at the helm.
There are movies that make you happy and then there are movies that so thoroughly fill you with joy that you can’t help but burst into applause and feel giddy even weeks after seeing it. The Way He Looks, directed by Daniel Ribeiro and starring a marvelous young cast led by Ghilherme Lobo and Fabio Audi, definitely qualifies as the latter and you’d be hard pressed to find a movie more enjoyable to watch that this one.