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