Even though the film has a confusingly long name and almost zero promotion outside of BTS’ fanbase, it has become the second highest-grossing movie at the US Box Office in 2024. Suga | August D along with director Jun-Soo Park creates an experience that’s larger than life. Starting with some simple words from Suga to build am intimate world for viewers to escape to with him, the bulk of the movie is a concert, a replaying of each and every song he performed on the very short run D-Day tour.
Tótem is a close up view of loss and love
Sol (Naíma Sentíes), a young girl of 7, is quiet and polite as she arrives at her grandfather’s home with her mother who’s dropping her off in anticipation of her father, Tonatiuh’s (Mateo Garcia), birthday party that night. Unsure of herself and her place in the house she floats from one family member to the next, aunts, uncles and cousins, treated sweetly but aloof as they prep themselves for the night’s festivities. An air of anxiety and impending loss threatens to suffocate all those in the house.
Oscars Roundtable: Our Predictions for the 96th Academy Awards
It’s that time again. We all picked our favorites at the end of the year; the guilds have spoken; critics groups have doled out their laurels; and now, three months into 2024 it’s time for the Academy to put a bow on the movies of 2023 with the Oscars. In advance of Sunday’s telecast airing on ABC at 4 pm (PDT) – an hour earlier than usual and on the first day of Daylight Saving Time no less – we gathered round the old roundtable to make our predictions on how the awards will (and should) go when all’s said and done.
Dune: Part Two, an epic tale visually stunning on the big screen
We start up where Part One left us as Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) Atreides have found the mistrusting Fremen that they must win over not only to survive but to thrive as both Paul and Jessica have foreseen. Each has their own path in what will become the fight for the freedom of these people and themselves. The latter must manipulate the religious fervor for the coming messiah while the former must lead the people, even if it’s not what he wants for himself.
In Perfect Days, Wim Wenders finds great beauty in mundane routine
I love a movie that lets us watch an artist at work (see also, Showing Up) especially when it’s a craftsman of a job I’ve never considered.
The Taste of Things sorts your Valentine’s Day Plans
Benoît Magimel is the Napoleon of French cuisine. Juliette Binoche is his cook, apprentice, and lover. Over twenty-plus years together, they’ve built an astonishing culinary and emotional partnership together at a stunning country estate. It’s the late 1800s in France, the Age of Escoffier is dawning, and the preparation, appreciation, and invention of food is serious business.
Madame Web needs an overhaul to survive long enough for a sequel
An NYPD EMT, Cassie Web (Dakota Johnson), has a lonesome existence, but she’s more than happy with the way things are while her partner Ben forces her out of her shell and into socializing. A life and death experience brings out a new power laying dormant within her brought on by her mother’s time in the Peruvian Amazon. As her mother lay dying during child birth, locals save Cassie’s life with the help of a rare spider that supposedly offers supernatural powers. Double crossed by her supposed protection Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), she clung to life just long enough for the birth of her daughter.
Argylle is a long, cliché-filled, hot mess
Part of the routine when attending preview screenings as a press member requires us to give a brief opinion after the movie to one of the PR representatives. The answer I gave after Argylle was “dumb but harmless.” A couple of days later, I still can’t think of anything better.
Sundance 2024 Notebook
Sundance 2024 is in full-swing in Park City, Salt Lake City, and — beginning on the 25th — online. I’m on the ground scurrying around the mountains to catch as much as I can. Keep an eye here (and @thesunbreak) for quick updates throughout the festival, with longer reviews to follow.
Sundance 2024 Notebook: Between the Temples
Seems like this manic movie about a cantor who finds himself unable to sing (Jason Schwartzman) a year after the death of his wife who inexplicably finds himself volunteering to prepare his zany old music teacher (Carol Kane) for her adult bat mitzvah aims to capture how it feels like to be driven mad by family, religion, and grief. If so, mazel!