Film 2349 - The Substance

Intro: I wan't sure about rewatching this movie already, but Michael really wanted to watch it and, to be fair, I couldn't say no. Because, after all, this was one of my favourite movies from last year.

Film 2349: "The Substance" (2024), Coralie Fargeat
Watched on: From the TV
Language: English
Watched with: Michael
Thoughts: I'm honestly so glad I rewatched this. I think the first time around "The Substance" was more an experience, rather than a film. I remembered I felt I was going through a rollercoaster during my first watch at the movies, but this time I knew what to expect and, in a way, I focused more on other aspects of this wild ride.
First, I paid more attention to Margaret Qualley's performance: she was definitely deserving of an Oscar nomination. Maybe not a win, but her role is iconic and there's no Elisabeth Sparkle without Sue. Remember: they are one.
Second, I paid more attention to the soundtrack and the visuals in general. I think "The Substance" does an amazing job at defyining itself through images and sound, not just the performances. It features a lot of ommages to other films, probably the easiest one to spot is "The Shining". Visually it's an extremely interesting movie, the colours are so bright and the music makes them feel even more "alive".
Thirdly, I reconsidered some of my previous concerns regarding the ending - there's a lot of "Carrie" in that live Christmas special - and although gruesome and gory, it really fits this story, complementing a crazy, wild ride in a way that is so unexpected as it is overwhelming at first. On a second watch, knowing what's about to happen, you focus less on the shock of what you're witnessing and more on the absurdity that is to put your life at risk to fulfill a (male) fantasy and pursue fame at all costs.
Film 2312 - The Substance
Film 2349 - The Substance
Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid.
Box Office: $77.1 million
Worth a watch?: Definitely not a movie for the general crowd, but an interesting and challenging movie nonetheless. On my second watch I loved it even more: Demi Moore needs to win that Oscar now. We'll see on Sunday what happens, but after her win at SAG last Sunday, it looks like she might have the support to achieve this amazing feat. What a journey for her. #TeamDemi
Awards: 5 Oscars nomination for Best Picture, Director, Actress, Original Screenplay, and Makeup and Hairstyling. 1 BAFTA win for Best Make Up & Hair out of 5 nominations (Director, Actress in a Leading Role, Original Screenplay, and Sound). 1 win at the Golden Globes for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Moore) out of 5 noms (Film, Director, Supporting Actress, Screenplay). The movie is currently nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year's César Awards.
Key word: Christmas Show.
Trailer
#HollywoodCiak
Bengi

Film 2348 - The Hunger Games

Intro: For our second watch at Michael's we went for something lighter and available on Netflix.

Film 2348: "The Hunger Games" (2012), Gary Ross
Watched on: From the TV
Language: English
Watched with: Michael
Thoughts: I always love the first two movies of this franchise, I think they're brilliant. It's unfortunate that greed came into play when it was time to adapt the third book and they decided to split it into two movies (the third one is bad), still "The Hunger Games" saga is a good one to watch and the best one in the young adult genre to come out recently.
Film 412 - Hunger Games
Film 461 - Hunger Games
Film 541 - Hunger Games
Film 1551 - The Hunger Games
Film 2348 - The Hunger Games
Film 634 e 635 - Hunger Games: la ragazza di fuoco
Film 699 - Hunger Games: La ragazza di fuoco
Film 1171 - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Film 1552 - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Film 2078 - Hunger Games: La ragazza di fuoco
Film 836 - Hunger Games: il canto della rivolta - Parte I
Film 1176 - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
Film 1056 - Hunger Games: Il canto della rivolta - Parte 2
Film 1460 - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
Film 2239 - The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland.
Box Office: $695.2 million
Worth a watch?: For those who appreciate the young adult genre, this is definitely a movie/saga to watch. First and second films are great.
Awards: The movie won Best Feature Film at the BAFTA Children's Award. Nominated for 1 Golden Globe for Best Original Song - Motion Picture ("Safe and Sound", Taylor Swift, John Paul White, Joy Williams, T Bone Burnett). 1 Gramm win (Best Song Written for Visual Media, "Safe and Sound") and 1 nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media ("Abraham's Daughter", T Bone Burnett, Win Butler, Régine Chassagne).
Key word: Tributes.
Trailer
#HollywoodCiak
Bengi

Film 2347 - A Real Pain

Intro: I stayed at Micheal's for almost a week, so I had my list of things I wanted to watch (to switch from our usual "Drag Race" frenzy...). And this movie came highly reccomended by Niamh, so I was really curious to watch it.

Film 2347: "A Real Pain" (2024), Jesse Eisenberg
Watched on: From the TV
Language: English
Watched with: Michael
Thoughts: This is the first movie written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg that I watched. I thought it was his directorial debut, but it actually isn't, as he previously wrote and directed a movie called "When You Finish Saving the World" with Julianne Moore. seen that I didn't know too much about his previous work in these roles, I didn't know what to expect.
"A Real Pain" is a really weel constructed movie and a solid one. Through his screenplay, Eisenberg is capable of building a quirky, yet profound world that function well thanks to the chemistry between Eisenberg and his co-lead Kieran Culkin. Together thei're a match made in heaven.
Culkin, especially, thanks to his character is able to stand out, portraying Benji in a way that resimbles his Roman Roy from "Succession", but in a more low-key, depressed and "hippie" way. I'm sure he's winning an Oscar for this role.
Other than the two actors, though, the story explores grief and mental health, for a on the road/self-discory story that follows David (Eisenberg) and Benji's Jewish family roots all the way to Poland to visit the village where their grandmother grew up. While in the country, they go on a Jewish heritage tour that will take them to Majdanek, the Nazi German concentration in Lublin.
Needless to say, the subject of this movie is extremely heavy and yet Eisenberg finds a good balance between heavier and lighter moments, for an overall result that isn't a tough watch, but the very opposite (still, I would classify this as a comedy movie, as the Golden Globes did when recognizing "A Real Pain" in their categories). Not my favourite movie of the year, but absolutely a worthy watch.
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, Daniel Oreskes.
Box Office: $19.6 million
Worth a watch?: A movie well done, with a charming cast and story, altough tough to process at times. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but for those who are interest, definitely worth the watch. For those who thought Kieran Culkin gave the performance of a lifetime by playing Roman Roy, here's another character he mastered magnificently.
Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Kieran Culkin) and Best Original Screenplay (Jesse Eisenberg); the movie won at BAFTA in the same two categories. At the Golden Globe, it won for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Culkin) out of 4 total nominations (Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and Screenplay).
Key word: Grandma.
Trailer
#HollywoodCiak
Bengi

Film 2346 - Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Intro: We're going back in time for this one because I forgot to note in down in my list of movies to review and... I completely forgot about it until the Oscar nominations came out and Bowen Yang made that joke about so many movies nominated for Best Visual Effects portrays monkeys in their stories.

Film 2345: "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" (2024), Wes Ball
Watched on: At the movies
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh
Thoughts: The fact that I completely forgot i watched this movie I think says it all. It's not a bad movie, to be fair, but it's nothing we've seen before. To be completely honest, the thing I remember the most about "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" is how many times I yawned: the running time is too long (145 minutes) and for a lot of the plot nothing really happens. Probably I wasn't really in the mood to watch this film, but yeah, I remember I was bored.
The visual effects are great, though, and the premise of the "Planet of the Apes" franchise is always fascinating. But I feel like we milked it enough.
Ps. While I was writing down the list of the other "Planet of the Apes" movies I saw in the past, I noticed there's one missing from my reviews that I know I watched back in the day: "War for the Planet of the Apes". Funny enough, I forgot to write about another film from this saga.
Film 325 - L'alba del pianeta delle scimmie
Film 764 - Apes Revolution - Il pianeta delle scimmie
Film 2346 - Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Cast: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy.
Box Office: $397.4 million
Worth a watch?: If you enjoyed the previous entries of this rebooted saga, surely you'll enjoy "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes". For anyone else, either you start from the beginning (see list above) or you pick another film about mokeys (there's so many).
Awards: 1 nomination at the 2025 Oscars and BAFTAs for Best Visual Effects.
Key word: Egg.
Trailer
#HollywoodCiak
Bengi

Film 2245 - Better Man

Intro: I got so excited to see this movie I couldn't wait!

Film 2345: "Better Man" (2024), Michael Gracey
Watched on: At the movies
Language: English
Watched with: Michael
Thoughts: I'm not Robbie Williams biggest fan, but I definitely know his work and appreciate his music, so I was excited to watch a movie biopic about him and his start in the Tak That boy band back in the 80s all the way to today's time. And let me tell you, this movie delivers.
I understand not everyone is familiar with Williams - this resulted in this movie's biggest controversy: it's audience - but it shouldn't stop people from seeing this movie: "Better Man" is a great biopic and an even better musical. The songs are great and the dance routines (and camera work to go with it) amazing, perectly balancing emotional depth and entertainment. Not to mention this movie is extremely interesting visually, as (everybody knows) the main character, Robbie, is portrayed as a chimpanzee (various reasons behind this choice, I'll let you discover them). And although this may look odd at first glance, in reality this choice doesn't take anything away from the story and the audience connection to the protagonist. Yeah, it's a bit weird, but Robbie Williams never really played by the rules.
So, to summarize, this movie is great.
That said, it definitely overestimated its audience. America seems to have rejected it because Williams isn't really famous over there - funny enoug, "Anora", a film nominated for 6 Academy Awards this year, features the song "Greatest Day" by Take That, the group Williams first started his career in (although he's not included in this song) - but honestly I find this to be a lazy excuse. I watched countless American biopics focusing on people I didn't know much about, it has never stopped me from enjoying the movie. And I find annoying how many people (online) dismissed "Better Man" just because Williams isn't part of their American background, stating that he was never really famous because he never "made it" in the US. I remember growing up Robbie Williams was everywhere, delivering a smashing hit after another and selling millions of albums in Europe: I don't think this cultural phenomenon can be disregarded just becuase the US wasn't touched by it. (He even sang a song with Nicole Kidman back in 2001!)
Anyway it's obvious at this point that investing $110 million on this project was a massive risk that didn't pay off. These days is difficult for a superheroe movie to generate box-office frenzy, I don't think this biopic about a British popstar led by a motion capture generated monkey stood a chance. Which is said, considering how good this movie is.
A bittersweet feeling with this one: on one hand a very well executed and entertaining movie, on the other one of the biggest flop from 2024. But don't get you fooled by the box-office gross, "Better Man" is absolutely worth the watch.
Cast: Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman, Raechelle Banno.
Box Office: $19.7 million (so far)
Worth a watch?: A peculiar mix of "Trainspotting" and "Planet of the Apes". Robbie Williams and Take That's fun, this is your movie. Everyone else, give this film a chance, you won't be disappointed.
Awards: 1 nomination at the 2025 Oscars and BAFTAs for Best Visual Effects. 1 nomination for Best Original Song, Motion Picture ("Forbidden Road", Robbie Williams, Freddy Wexler, Sacha Skarbek) at the 2025 Golden Globes.
Key word: "It".
Trailer
#HollywoodCiak
Bengi

Film 2344 - Spy

Intro: One evening at Micheal's we were trying to decide on what to watch and the, on Netflix, I finally found this. And I knew it was time to watch this movie again.

Film 2344: "Spy" (2015), Paul Feig
Watched on: From the TV
Language: English
Watched with: Michael
Thoughts: personally, I love this movie. I find it extremely funny, both in English and Italian (which is very rare considering not all the jockes necessarily translate well into Italian usually).
I think Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham and Rose Byrne do a great job here, bringing their A game to a movie that could have been either a potential meh or completely bad; instead "Spy" is funny and refreshing every time I watch it again. I still remember the first time I watched it at the movie, I thought this movie was hilarious.
So, every now and then, when I feel like watching something funny and lighthearted, I go back to "Spy" and enjoy myself.
Film 978 - Spy
Film 1101 - Spy
Film 1492 - Spy
Film 1810 - Spy
Film 2344 - Spy
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Miranda Hart, Bobby Cannavale, Allison Janney, Jude Law, Morena Baccarin, 50 Cent, Ben Falcone.
Box Office: $235.7 million
Worth a watch?: Very funny, well executed and with a great cast. I know Melissa McCarthy isn't necessarily liked by everybody, but here she's at the top of her (comedic) game. I always have a great time watching this. (Also there's a cameo appearence from Verka Serduchka from Eurovision 2007, whic for me is a plus!)
Awards: Nominated for 2 Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical and Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (McCarthy). 2 nominations at the MTV Movie + TV Awards for Best Comedic Performance (McCarthy) and Best Fight.
Key word: Car.
Trailer
#HollywoodCiak
Bengi

Film 2343 - Nosferatu

Intro: Back from Italy after the holiday break, Niamh and I had this movie planned for as soon as we got back to Dublin.

Film 2343: "Nosferatu" (2024), Robert Eggers
Watched on: At the movies
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh
Thoughts: I was excited to see this movie, but not as excited as Niamh was.
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, which I think didn't make me too entusiastic about watching this movie to begin with. What excited me the most, though, was it's cast: with Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Willem Dafoe all in lead and supporting roles and none other than "It" itself Bill Skarsgård in the titular role, definitely "Nosferatu"'s star factor was playing a big role.
What hurt the chances of me liking and enjoying this movie experience, though, were two factors. Firstly, an external one: the movie theater we were in had no heating on and we ended up watching the movie wearing our jackets all buttoned up. It maybe (unintentionally) mimicked this film's atmosphere, but it wasn't at all pleasent and actually made imèatient to leave ("Nosferatu" is 132 min long...).
Secondly, I couldn't understand a single thing Bill Skarsgård says. The tone of his voice playing this character and especially the accent made impossible for me to grasp just a couple of words here and there, to the point I eventually gave up trying to understand what "Nosferatu" was saying. Which obviously made it kind of hard for me to understand what was going on with his character in general and especially with his relationship to and with Lily-Rose Depp's Ellen. To the point that I had to go and read the plot of this movie on Wikipedia to get a better sense of what I just watched.
So, maynly for these two reasons, i can't say I enjoyed watching "Nosferatu" as much as I was expecting to.
That said, it's undeniable that this movie has a clear point of view, is masterfully crafted and well acted and has a great sense of style and it's visually compelling. I particularly loved the gloomy atmosphere, the cinematography and costumes and the actor's perfromances. I think Robert Eggers once again proves that he has a really interesting point of view and his film are more and more becoming recognizable in terms of their clear style and visual, estethic and directing.
Also, I want to mention that I enjoyed Lily-Rose Depp's performance, this is the first time I see her act and she didn't disappoint (although I think this could have been another role Anya Taylor-Joy would have killed had she collaborated with Eggers once more after "The Witch" and "The Northman").
Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe.
Box Office: $172.2 million (so far)
Worth a watch?: Visually intriguing, extremelly well crafted and directed, I'm sure "Nosferatu" won't disappoint the fans of the original (although I didn't watch it so take this with a pinch of salt). Some may require subtitles to understand what Bill Skarsgård is saying.
Awards: Nominated for 4 Oscar: Cinematography, Production Design, Costumes and Makeup and Hairstyling. 5 BAFTAs nominations for Cinematography, Production Design, Costumes, Make Up & Hair and Original Score.
Key word: Plague.
Trailer
#HollywoodCiak
Bengi