Film 2358 - The Brutalist

Intro: We were really curious to watch this movie after hearing about it so much and in such good terms. Also, we thought  it would have played a bigger role during the awards season.

Film 2358: "The Brutalist" (2024), Brady Corbet
Watched on: At the movies
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh, Elias, Debbi
Thoughts: Not a huge fan of Adrien Brody to be honest and I wasn't quite sure I could handle a 3 hour film - I'm not my younger and enthusiastic self anymore - but we ended up going all together to see Brady Corbet's epic WWII architectural saga because a) everyone was talking about it and b) it looked like the Oscars were going to recognize this movie big time. And point b) kinda happened.
Altought this is definitely not my movie of the year - neither in general, nor between the Oscar nominated pictures - I made peace with the fact that "The Brutalist" was going to win Best Picture a long time before the actual Oscars night. Imagine my shock when the winnder announced was actually "Anora". Two opposite movie experiences for me, one calm (althought traumatic), the other one screamed at you. Funny how things can still surprise you even when you think you have all figured out.
Anyway, "The Brutalist" wasn't as heavy to watch as I thought I would be: it's not an easy ride by any means, but the beautiful shots, the elegance of this film and the compelling story makes up for it. Still, not a huge fan of Adrien Brody. His performance is (obviously) good, and nobody does the a WWII movie like him, but another Oscar after "The Pianist"? For a very similar performance? Again? The only actor across all 4 acting categories who already had an Oscar, won his second one. Was it really necessary? I was hard-core rooting for Ralph Fiennes but I was happy to settle for Timothée... but Brody again? I don't know, it still doesn't sound right to me.
And, I'll be honest, it still shocks me that Brady Corbet didn't win for Best Director considering how beautifully shot and directed his movie is. A movie about an architect, the building of his visionary magnum opus, the epic tale of an artist, his struggle, the war, having to run away from your own country... It had all the elements. Especially considering that neither Edward Berger for "Conclave" nor Luca Guadagnino for "Challengers" were nominated.
Anyway, I enjoyed "The Brutalist" as a one time experience - with the intermission and all - and that part shot in the marble caves of Carrara stays with me to this day. It's a very well done movie, a visionary one fur sure and extremelly well executed. Not my favourite of them all, but still a great expample of contemporary cinema.  
Cast: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé, Alessandro Nivola.
Box Office: $50.1 million
Worth a watch?: Definitely not a film for everyone nor a cinematic experience for every occasion as the movie is 215 minutes long. But, if you have the willingness and the patience, it's definitely worth watching.
Awards: 3 Oscars wins (Best Actor for Brody, Original Score, and Cinematography) out of 10 nominations (Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor for Pearce, Supporting Actress for Jones, Original Screenplay, Editing, and Production Design). 4 BAFTAs wins (Best Director, Actor in a Leading Role, Cinematography, and Original Score) out of 9 noms (Best Film, Actor in a Supporting Role, Actress in a Supporting Role, Original Screenplay, and Production Design) and 3 Golden Globes wins (Best Motion Picture – Drama, Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, Director) out of 7 overall nominations (Best Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Screenplay, and Original Score). Winner of the Silver Lion (Brady Corbet) at 2024's Venice Film Festival.
Key word: Bulding.
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Film 1514 - The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Intro: I was intrigued by the the incomprehensible plot and the tense trailer, not to mention the good reviews and the best screenplay win at the Cannes Film Festival last year. That's why I was so keen to see the latest Lanthimos directorial effort.

Film 1514: "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" (2017), Yorgos Lanthimos
Watched: my laptop
Language: English
Watched with: Fre
Briefly: tense, but particularly slow, "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" aims to be a thriller with horror vibes even though it just manages to exacerbate the viewers with its deviant plot. In my opinion it's more boring than scaring;
Farrell and Kidman are beautiful actors and they carry the story as far as they can, the problem is that nothing really happens here until the end and it's frustrating that you have to wait for the very last minutes to get the plot moving forward. Probably it was one of Lanthimos goals to induce these kind of emotions in the viewers, yet still you really need to be committed to the cause to actually enjoying it;
"The Killing of a Sacred Deer" has a really powerful finale that partially redeems its previous 90minutes of nothing happening while you wait for the good stuff to come, but I don't think it's enough to appreciate a 2 hour-long movie that leads nowhere for the most of its running time. I think "The Lobster" has a powerful message underneath that is missing here. And you can definitely feel it.
Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan, Raffey Cassidy, Sunny Suljic, Alicia Silverstone, Bill Camp.
Box Office: $6.1 milion
Worth watching?: Yorgos Lanthimos fans will find it interesting and probably entertaining, but for those who don't know the previous Greek director works it's probably better if they start with "The Lobster" first: "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" is even slower and less fun.
Awards: Best Screenplay at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival (tied with Lynne Ramsay for You Were Never Really Here).
Key word: Alcoholism.
Did you like it? Buy it HERE!

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Film 952 - Tomorrowland - Il mondo di domani

Ero molto interessato a vedere questo film, curioso di vedere se le buone premesse del trailer sarebbero state rispettate!

Film 952: "Tomorrowland - Il mondo di domani" (2015) di Brad Bird
Visto: al cinema
Lingua: italiano
Compagnia: Luigi
Pensieri: Diciamoci la verità... sembrava dovesse essere il film dell'anno e, invece, è solo un film. Sì, certo, il più recente che vede la presenza dell'ormai centellinato George Clooney nonché l'ultimo in ordine temporale delle produzioni Disney, ma a parte questi due fatti non rimane molto altro di peculiare. "Tomorrowland" è, sì, carino, ma niente di più.
Il gap tra la promozione monster che la Walt Disney Pictures ha investito (solo produrlo è costato 190 milioni di dollari) e il risultato finale (sia qualitativo che di introiti) è più che evidente e anche se la creazione di Brad Bird è visivamente potente e, sulla carta, narrativamente intrigante, di fatto c'è qualcosa che separa troppo ampiamente le buone premesse con l'effettivo prodotto finale.
Questa Tomorrowland è di fatto un'altra realtà cui possono accedere solo persone prescelte le cui doti o capacità siano in grado di produrre miglioramenti significativi per l'umanità. Ecco perché da bambino Frank Walker (Clooney) viene scelto da Athena (un'inquietantissima bambina androide) e portato nel futuristico mondo della spilletta con la "T". Le cose, però, non andranno come ci si potrebbe immaginare e, molti anni dopo, lo ritroviamo barbuto e trasandato, rinchiuso in casa e inospitale con la povera e disorientata Casey (Britt Robertson) che vorrebbe risposte dopo aver visitato lo "spot" che la stessa spilletta riproduce al tocco. Costretti per vari motivi a far comunella, i due metteranno insieme un piano per tornare su Tomorrowland a sistemare la situazione urgentissima del countdown alla Terra, destinata a distruggersi di lì a qualche settimana a causa di un evento catastrofico predetto da Frank che sembrerebbe inevitabile. O no?
Tutto di questa storia sembra divisibile in due parti: Terra e Tomorrowland, passato e presente, primo e secondo tempo e, in parallelo, parte più semplice e dove accadono meno cose e successiva fase in cui si susseguono tutti gli eventi incisivi della storia, nonché i più complessi da spiegare e più 'campati in aria'. Con quest'ultima affermazione non voglio dire che in una pellicola fantascientifica la spiegazione del perché la Terra stia andando in contro alla sua distruzione non abbia senso, ma semplicemente che quando viene fornita la spiegazione, non è soddisfacente quando si avrebbe voluto.
Quindi sì, "Tomorrowland - Il mondo di domani" regala buone scene d'azione, una bella colonna sonora, effetti speciali curatissimi, una bella fotografia e anche una certa nostalgia glam del passato, ma non riesce a creare quel pathos e quell'interesse nello spettatore che lo inducano a chiedersi come cavolo finirà la storia. Le trovate ci sono (la Tour Eiffel che è un'astronave!), ma sembrano più che altro una carrellata di idee molto fiche, per un risultato finale però un po' freddino. Peccato, i presupposti sembravano davvero molto buoni.
Ps. Il cast: George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Tim McGraw, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key, Chris Bauer, Thomas Robinson, Pierce Gagnon, Judy Greer.
Box Office: $203.4 milioni
Consigli: Carino, classico film misto azione e fantascienza perfetto per distrarsi in queste calde giornate estive. Disimpegno, belle immagini, una carismatica protagonista e perfino il Dott. House. Non è un capolavoro e il finale rovina un po' le premesse, ma tutto sommato si lascia guardare volentieri.
Parola chiave: Profezia che si autoavvera.
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