Almost There: Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz"

by Cláudio Alves

On a stressful day such as this, cinema can be a comfort. The movies are often prized for their escapist properties, so why not escape into their celluloid dreams once one's civil duty's done? I propose a trip to Oz before the first Wicked movie redefines what future generations will picture when they think of that magical land with emerald cities and yellow brick roads. But we're not here to talk fairytale architecture, good or bad witches. Instead, our focus shall be on the little girl who adventures into that world, swept by a Kansas tornado, from sepia-toned monochrome into three-strip Technicolor. It's time to talk about Judy Garland's Dorothy, a performance on the cusp of an Oscar nomination once upon a time. She was almost there…

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TIFF '24: "Else" and "U Are the Universe" find Love in the Apocalypse

by Cláudio Alves

For a body horror nightmare, ELSE can be surprisingly beautiful.

It says something about the state of the world, or, at the very least, the collective mood, that the apocalypse is a prevalent concept among contemporary artists. At TIFF this year, several films tackled this fatalistic topic head-on, exploring cosmic dereliction through a litany of genres and registers, from high-budget passion projects to indie experiments. Last time, I broached the topic of Joshua Oppenheimer's divisive narrative feature debut, The End. Now, it's time for two other examples. There's Thibault Emin's feature-length adaptation of a pandemic short, Else. Secondly, an unexpected sci-fi proposition from Ukraine of all places, Pavlo Ostrikov's U Are the Universe. Both are love stories of sorts…

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Ranking the Alien Franchise, from Classic to Calamity

by Cláudio Alves

They call it a perfect organism. The beast brings forth destruction like nothing else in the universe, designed for maximum lethality and single-minded bloodlust. It slays and reproduces, only ever caring about the perpetuity of its kind over other living creatures. There are many ways for it to come into the world, whether through a mysterious black liquid or intelligent spores, an infection, or insemination by a violating face hugger. It is the product of mutation, ravaging existing beings as incubators or raw material for a further step in monstrous evolution. So, is it perfect or just good at killing and hard to kill? Is it perfect or an abomination? Am I talking about the xenomorph or the franchise that birthed it?

Through transforming genres and crossbreeding with other movie legacies, through artistic inspiration and corporative rot, through thick and thin, masterpieces and mediocrities, the Alien movies have persisted across decades. With its ninth installment now in theatres, it's a good time to take a look back at the saga and rank its nine films...

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"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" in 30 Perfect Shots

by Cláudio Alves

Years ago, as part of the dearly departed Hit Me With Your Best Shot series, the Film Experience hosted a celebration whose theme was the 1977 Best Cinematography Oscar nominees. Much was written about the contenders' beauty, their visual storytelling, and aesthetic vices. None was more praised than Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, whose lensing earned Vilmos Zsigmond a well-deserved Academy Award. It was the film's only victory on Oscar night, partly because another seminal work in American sci-fi stole its thunder. Even so, Spielberg's creation endures, as miraculous as it ever was.

American audiences now have the privilege of revisiting the film in a new 4K restoration. Last weekend, it played in selected theaters as a special event, and there's an encore this Wednesday. Oh, how I wish I could experience it on the big screen. In lieu of that, I re-watched the film at home and decided to write about thirty of its best shots – and there are so many perfect ones! Consider this my lengthy and much-delayed contribution to that Hit Me With Your Best Shot of years past…

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Under the Skin @10: A Perfect Opening

by Cláudio Alves

Jonathan Glazer has scarcely left the news cycle since Oscar night. His speech against genocide caused much furor in Hollywood, where accusations of anti-semitism were promptly lobbied against the filmmaker. That said, today's topic isn't that media storm or the director's recent contributions to the Cinema for Gaza campaign. Instead, it's time to honor Glazer's third feature, which celebrates ten years since its US release. Loosely adapted from a Michel Farber novel, Under the Skin follows Scarlett Johansson as she roams the Scottish landscape in search of men. She's an alien creature whose conquests meet a nightmarish demise, and her film is one of last decade's most tremendous cinematic achievements. 

I'd go so far as saying that any "best of the 2010s" list that doesn't include it is highly suspect. Indeed, Under the Skin secured its masterpiece status rather instantly in my eyes, its opening like the protagonist's seduction – impossible to resist even as it plunges you into oblivion…

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