Cinema and Popcorn

THE APPRENTICE A portrayal of corporate greed and the corruption of a man's essence, The Apprentice has noble intentions, a strong concept, nostalgic cinematography choices and outstanding performances from Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, but it fails in its execution which ends up being a simplistic one. Ali Abbasi fails to build a consistent tone around Trump, with too many ups and downs that don't necessarly go alongside the narrative trajectory - yes, his Trump is not one dimensional, he's both a sympathetic guy who entered a world of wolves and a monster himself, but I didn't feel the line of development along his journey... it's like he uncovered something that was already there instead of "becoming" it. All these problems make Stan's work even more impressive as the actor shows ability to navigate the screenplay flaws and the tonal inconsistencies and he creates a monster with a heart, through a compassionate mento...

Genre: Horror; Drama; Comedy Director: Coralie Fargeat Writer: Coralie Fargeat Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid As a non-fan of horror flicks, I consider 2024 to be one of the most interesting years for the genre. For me, The Substance represents the genre peaking both in its style and in its utility: a movie that's both spellbiding but also makes you look away from its visual narrative; and a movie that comments society's obsession with beauty and perfection but also mocks it and offers a view of the ugly side of the coin. For its style and substance, The Substance might well be one of the most daring, smart and interesting movies I've seen in years! The movie starts with the star of Elizabeth Sparkle in Hollywood Walk of Fame, from its very beginning and going through time, losing interest from those who pass by, starting to crack and being covered in ketchup. It all plays like a brief summary of The Substance 's narrative and it's inte...

Awards season is ready to start and distributors are already lining their contenders. After the indie Winter & Spring and a lackluster Summer seasonl, it seems there aren't many contenders that had their releases outside of a film festival this year. Sure Thanksgiving and Christmas season always have a word to say concerning the Oscar potential of more commercial cinematic ventures, but I consider the biggest players have already screened in Cannes, Venice, Telluride and TIFF.  To understand the Oscar game, we have to have some points in mind: #1 - it kinda plays like a presidential election in the way your party (AKA distributor) needs to champion the movie and land a FYC campaign; #2 - Best Picture nominees are chosen through a preferential balloting system, which means the love towards a movie plays a big part in the game while not liking the movie does not (you can't "unvote" a movie or block the AMPAS members of picking it);  #3 - the first critics' award...

THELMA It might well be one of my favorite films of the year! While the premise might sound a little silly it's a beautiful lullaby to the old ones who refuse to be diminished by a society that sees them as a liability. It's about a quest of an old lady to prove herself and her loved ones she's still useful as she tries to have a "Tom Cruise comeback" in her own life as she goes after the money she lost when she was victim of a burglary. June Squibb's charm iluminates the screen and she's so natural, so funny, so heart-warming and so great in this one that she proves there's no age limit to be a great leading lady! It's a comedic masterclass performance as she perfectly balances funny with inner fragility.  Richard Roundtree makes for an outstanding scene-partner to Squibb and Parker Posey pulls some great laughs as Thelma's neurotic daughter Gail. Thelma avoids cheap laughs by always being grounded to the serious and noble subjects it depicts ...

TWISTERS It's not original... I mean, we have seen this film before... but Twisters puts a lot of effort in character development and in the search of the movie's heart, which it ultimately finds in Daisy Edgar-Jones. Glen Powell steals the scene with his movie star charisma for sure, but the movie belongs to the female lead: she can do both the acting and exude the leading lady quality in a way that reminds me of a young Julia Roberts here. I liked the approach Lee Isaac Chung had with the material, pulling sensibility from a script full of clichè blockbuster lines and scenes. The visual effects are outstanding. An entertaining entry for the disaster movie catalogue that never amazes me, but it's good enough to never be bad no matter what. Not a force of nature but a windy cinematic moment. RATING: 5,5/10 TRAP It really traps the audience in almost 2 hours of a manhunt that feels sterile thanks to an unsensitive approach that doesn't allow you to feel sympathy for its...

Genre: Horror/Mystery Director: Oz Perkins Writer: Oz Perkins Starring: Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt and Nicolas Cage Longlegs was a pleasant time at the movies. A solid crime-investigation film that surprises with a somewhat sloppy supernatural element that goes full force during the 3rd act, it might be defined as some kind of Silence of the Lambs meets Hereditary , but Longlegs distinguishes itself thanks to Oz Perkins' direction: always tense, with a dark atmosphere of constant danger, even if the writing can't quite match the boldness of the execution. It's a very good cinematic ride, but it disappoints in its conclusion when its orchestration promised a grand finale. The movie's first scene is a great one, maybe one of the most creepy first scenes in recent years, and what unfolds after that makes you wonder about its connection with the narrative. The first act is brilliantly written, with Maika Monroe delivering an impressive performance as Agen...

Genre: Romance; Comedy. Director: Greg Berlanti Writer: Rose Gilroy Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Ray Romano, Anna Garcia, Jim Rash and Woody Harrelson The rom-com genre isn't properly alive these days, specially during Summer season considering the amount of sci-fi/adventure, squels, animated and super-hero movies that usually get released at this time of the year, but Fly Me to the Moon cracks the blockbuster-busy schedule at movie theatres. But Fly Me to the Moon is movie with a big production budget that was meant to streaming service, but... is it any good? The answer is: yes, it is very good and I am glad Apple decided to give it a theatrical run! It's pure entertainment, elevated by an interesting premise and graced by a charismatic performance by Scarlett Johansson. The movie starts with the ups and downs (mostly the downs) of the Apollo 11 pre-mission in the aftermath of a series of unsuccessful previous atempts to reach the Moon - it's meant to...

FANCY DANCE Director Erica Tremblay crafts a very sensitive drama about family, sense of community, cultural identity and social through the lens of the individual lives of her two leads. It's an indie drama with heart and soul that achieves greatness thanks to Isabel Deroy-Olson and (specially) Lily Gladstone's performances. Cinematically good considering the character development and the sensibility the director displayed by approaching some very delicate moments and key scenes, which shows an eye for both narrative storytelling and creating empathy with the audience. It's also as socially relevant as it is heartbreaking, which is why Fancy Dance is such a special cinematic little gem. RATING: 8,5 / 10 LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL It was simply not my cup of tea! David Dastmalchian shines in the title role of a TV host with some dark secrets (which is both fascinating and deserving for him to finally step as a leading man in a major movie) and the movie's concept is int...

After many months of development, I've finished one of the most challenging posts I've ever developed. Many movies watched, many names shortlisted and some last-minute changes (of course), I present you the TOP 100 Actors and Actresses Working Today list. All the contenders had to meet some criteria: being part of at least one live-action project in the last 5 years (since 2019); having at least 4 distinguished performances in film, while the other 5 performances to mention have to split between turns on stage (Broadway or West End) and TV work (in case an actor doesn't have stage or TV credit, the minimum number of film performance goes 5); and having at least 9 distinguished performances on the resume.  A special note about some names that might seem to be missing for those who are less aware: figures who are currently accused of some kind of misconduct of any kind, abusive attitudes or acts of violence towards the most vulnerable will not appear on the list. Cinema and P...