Let’s have a blast with Nick and Nora!

by Cláudio Alves

The power of movie stars shouldn't be underestimated. A glamourous screen presence, a straight shot of charisma, can make even the least impressive piece of cinematic fluff into a must-see event. At the very least, the difference between unwatchable mediocrity and a jolly good time can often be someone who electrifies the screen with a look, someone who enchants the camera and conquers our attention with no effort. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better example of the wonders of stardom than The Thin Man series…

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Review: "Deerskin" on HBO

by Cláudio Alves

Fashion kills in one of Quentin Dupieux's latest absurdist comedies, the loony nightmare that is Deerskin. After blessing moviegoers with the nonsensical sight of a homicidal tire in Rubber, the French director has now imbued a fringed jacket with the power to unravel the human mind and precipitate its wearers into paroxysms of murderous madness. Jean Dujardin's Georges is the victim of such demonic influence, though, at the start, he, like all things in Deerskin, appears unnervingly mundane…

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Streaming Review: Over the Moon

By Abe Friedtanzer

Many religions and cultures find meaning in inanimate objects and physical locations, teaching mythical stories about their significance. As children grow up, they may assume a more metaphorical and symbolic understanding of what they heard from their parents and grandparents, no longer convinced that something magic could indeed be real. That can erode the sense of wonder that they once felt and cause them to believe in something less fervently because they believe it couldn’t possibly be true.

Not giving up that childlike hope may be unrealistic, but it does serve as the premise for some of the most heartwarming animated films.

In Over the Moon, streaming on Netflix on October 23rd, we’re introduced to Fei Fei, who, as a young girl, helps her parents make and sell mooncakes, eagerly running all over the city describing their delicious taste. She is always sure to emphasize their connection to the moon itself and to Chang’e, the moon goddess...

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Yes No Maybe So: Hillbilly Elegy

Can the movie world please slow down? After months of nothing much happening, everything is happening at once. Three more festivals start today and the trailers keep hitting. It's as if we're in a typical year's mid October even though Oscar nomination battles are not two months away (as they'd usually be) but four months away. Early buzz on Hillbilly Elegy has been a bit hard to read. Is it going to be bad? Is it going to be good? Is it going to be so bad it's good camp classic. Is it going to wow and compete for all the Oscars or none after face-planting? 

Glenn Close and Amy Adams Arguing About Who is Going to Win the Oscar First: The Movie (2020) pic.twitter.com/VDZgSVjQze

— Nathaniel Rogers (@nathanielr) October 15, 2020

We'd argue that the trailer does not answer these questions although there is a lot of capital A acting (which is always hard to judge out of context though lord knows everyone does when they see trailers) So we invite you to contribute your own Yes No and Maybe So in the comments as we're at a loss.

P.S. We've adjusted the Best Actress (Amy) and Best Supporting Actress (Glenn) charts to reflect the confirmed campaigns. 

"Enola Holmes"

by our new Italian contributor Elisa Giudici

It's been a while since a Netflix film prompted me to write in my cinephile What's App group chat: "ok everybody, I have a fun movie to suggest." After the boring disappointments of The Devil All the Time and Project Power, after the unspeakable horrors I witnessed in The Last Days of American Crime, I confess I log in my Netflix account holding my breath. Enola Holmes brought a sigh of relief. Nothing life-changing, mind you, just a fun, entertaining movie that reimagines the canon of Sherlock Holmes, the classic of classics. Conan Doyle's detective is one of the few fictional characters who keeps getting adapted in fresh ways without ever wearing out his welcome. 

Giving Mycroft and Sherlock a little sister is not entirely new...

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