Review: "Dune: Part Two" is more History than Story

by Cláudio Alves

Denis Villeneuve's second Dune movie isn't a sequel, not quite. As the full title implies, it's part two of one madman's attempt at transcribing Frank Herbert's seminal space opera on the big screen. And so, it starts almost at the exact point the 2021 film ended, with Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides seeking refuge among the Fremen after his Great House was dilacerated in a violent coup. The body of Jamis, the man Paul killed in ritual duel, is still fresh and carried by Stilgar's tribesmen as they guide the princeling and his mother, Lady Jessica, to the underground warren of Sietch Tabr. A prophecy is at stake, and enemy troops aren't nearly as deadly as the dangers waiting for them in the planet-sized desert.

Dread is everywhere, overwhelming, sticking in the throat until it feels like you're already being suffocated by the film before its epic imagery can get a chance to crush you. Villeneuve has done it again…

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Best Supporting Actress ~ First Round Predictions

by Nathaniel R

Emily Blunt in "Oppenheimer"

So is it finally Emily Blunt's time? She's been thisclose to an Oscar nomination multiple times with other awards bodies like SAG, the Golden Globes, and BAFTA making room for her repeatedly! Somehow an Oscar nomination has never materialized even when she 1000% deserved it (hello comedic genius from The Devil Wears Prada). With the largest female role in the The Year's Biggest Prestige Drama, Oppenheimer, she may finally make the shortlist. But what if previously nominated Florence Pugh joins her in the event that a lot of movies intended for the fall don't arrive as scheduled? Despite the movies lengthy running time they both don't get as many scenes as we would have liked but that might not matter given the film and the response.

Other questions looming over the Best Supporting Actress Oscar race are after the jump.

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Review: "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" Provides Wonderful Family Entertainment

By Christopher James

It’s been 18 years since Antonio Banderas’ Puss in Boots first flashed his huge eyes onscreen in box office smash and Cannes in-competition film Shrek 2. Though the Shrek franchise faded with each half-baked sequel, Puss in Boots got the origin story treatment in a 2011 installment. A decade later you'd assume that this Puss in Boots: The Last Wish would feel stale and dated. Instead it's a charming winner filled with imagination and fun! The story is a familiar one, centering around wish fulfillment and a grand race. Yet, there is plenty of juice left in this fairy tale world. The film blends childlike mania with poignant themes of belonging to make this perfect programming for families looking for a movie this holiday season.

When we catch up with Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), he’s leading a sing-a-long about his prowess while getting in a fight with both a town and a giant...

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Review: 'Don't Worry Darling'

By Glenn Dunks

To quote Lady Gaga: That’s gossip!

To ignore the gossip cycle that has become the press tour of Don’t Worry Darling can be difficult in the macro, but when the movie started it slipped away quite easily. For whatever may have been said about Olivia Wilde’s second directorial feature in the lead up to its release, that friction hasn’t quite come through on screen.

It’s not a good movie in the sense that it is coherent and fully grapples with the ideas it appears to be putting forward. It isn't and it doesn't. But it also is not a bad movie in that it is badly made or devoid of imagination or one where you can tell everybody on set hated everyone else. Which, after everything that’s happened, feels like more of a win in the moment than it oughta be...

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TIFF: Florence Pugh in ‘The Wonder’

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

It’s much easier to expose a lie in today’s technology-driven world than it was in past centuries, when something that seemed supernatural or inexplicable might have been taken at face value rather than properly investigated. The Wonder, based on the novel by Room screenwriter Emma Donoghue, centers on an eleven-year-old girl in Ireland who hasn’t eaten in four months yet somehow remains alive and well, and the town committee that brings in an observer with the apparent purpose of verifying some sort of divine intervention rather than unveiling a deception…

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