Film 2424 - Pillion

Intro: It took me a while to get to this review. I had the template ready for about 10 days, but couldn’t find the time, energy, or just the willingness to sit down and write it. Yeah, the peak of award season just ended, but to be fair, it was mainly because this is the last movie I watched with Yegor before our breakup and, possibly, part of me wasn’t ready to let go.
The list of new movies to review is getting longer, though, so off we go.

Film 2424: "Pillion" (2025), Harry Lighton
Watched: At the movies
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh, Debbi, Yegor
Thoughts: Not the gay romance I was expecting, "Pillion" was definitely an interesting watch. To me, BDSM, dom and sub—it’s all a world I don’t know much about, and it’s not a kink I have, so watching this movie was almost like analyzing a case study.
I think Alexander Skarsgård is perfectly cast and gives off the right vibe for his character, Ray. Harry Melling is a great protagonist and shows his potential here as a leading man, regardless of the genre, but I can’t deny it was a bit strange to see Harry Potter’s cousin’s ass on the big screen (Melling plays Dudley Dursley in the "Harry Potter" franchise). Anyway, the two together are the gay couple you didn’t know you needed. They make a great screen pair.
Overall, "Pillion" is bold and provocative and shines a light on a community that is rarely the subject of a movie (let alone one produced by the BBC). Not necessarily my gay romance fantasy, but I found it interesting and definitely refreshing.
Cast: Harry Melling, Alexander Skarsgård, Douglas Hodge, Lesley Sharp, Jake Shears.
Box Office: $5.9 million
Worth a watch?: "Pillion" isn't for everybody, but if it's premise interests you ("A directionless man is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive.", from IMDb), then it's definitely worth a watch.
Awards: 3 BAFTA nominations (Outstanding British Film, Outstanding British Debut, and Adapted Screenplay). The movie won Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival 2025 in the Un Certain Regard section.
Key word: Day off.
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Bengi

Film 2391 - 28 Years Later

Intro: I watched the first movie ages ago, I remember I liked it and that was kinda it. Probably my first introduction to Cillian Murphy.

Film 2390: "28 Years Later" (2025), Danny Boyle
Watched: At the movies
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh, Debbi
Thoughts: I remember vaguely what happens in the first "28 Days Later", but I'd say it was enough to go off of and understand what's going on here: the zombies are still around, the world is still infected, the survivors are spread in communities far away from each other.
It might seem like your average dystopian-horror movie, but there's a bit more to it. First of all, the zombies are not our main concern straight away. The story takes its time to introduce the new characters, letting us familiarize with the environment and the general rules. At the beginning, it doesn't even feel like you're watching a horror movie. There's a fairly realistic approach to the first part of the story, the one on the secluded island, there's a sick mom, a dad, and a child and all of them are trying to cope and survive their own way. I appreciated the tone of this first section of the movie - in a way it reminded me how "Prey" recontextualized the Predator franchise by positioning it in a plausible scenario, the Northern Great Plains of 1719 - but after a while I was ready for the story to move on.
To be fair, when it does, things start to happen fast. The rest of the story is more zombie-hunt and horror-like, it works really well and it's very interesting till the very end, when a strange character named Jimmy (Jack O'Connell) appears together with a group of look alikes. It promises a sequel ("28 Years Later: The Bone Temple") that is coming out next January.
I liked "28 Years Later", I found it very entertaining and well shot (although the quality of the images sometimes would change and degrade a bit). Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes are superb, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams are great leads, and I was happy to see Jack O'Connell finally back on the silver screen.
Film 2391 - 28 Years Later
Film 2437 - 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Cast: Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O'Connell, Edvin Ryding, Chi Lewis-Parry, Ralph Fiennes.
Box Office: $151.3 million
Worth a watch?: It's definitely worth the watch, especially this time of the year. It's a good movie in general and a well made horrow movie. It works for the fans of the franchise, but it doesn't require you to know what happened before to follow the story.
Awards: /
Key word: Doctor.
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Bengi

Film 2350 - Anora

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 2350: "Anora" (2024), Sean Baker
Watched on: The projector
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh
Thoughts: It's almost been two weeks and I still can't get over the fact that Demi Moore isn't an Oscar winner "because" of this movie. To be honest, I don't think I'll ever get over it. But let's start from the beginning.
When I watched "Anora" a couple of months ago, all the Oscars buzz and the controversies (about the intimacy coordinator) were there already. After winning at Cannes 2024, it was very obvious that this movie was destined to do really good come award season. So, that I expected. When Demi Moore started winning big, I got really excited, to the point that I didn't give too much credit to the BAFTAs when they rewarded Madison in their Leading Actress category. Usually the BAFTAs are a bit more "artsy" and/or go with British choices, so I didn't feel particularly defeated when Demi didn't win there (still, they rewarded "Emilia Pérez", but whatever). Demi subsequent win at SAG further cemented my idea: she was going to win the Oscar for sure now, seeing that the actors' branch was rewarding her performance a week before the Academy Awards. Boy I was up for a surprise.

With this in mind, I can't honestly deny that my disappointment for Demi's lost chance at winning her first Academy Award comes into play a bit when I'm thinking about this movie. I still think "Anora" is an interesting ride, but it's definitely not my best movie of the year. By a landslide. And, as much as I respect Mikey Madison's performance here - which is great, by the way! - hers is definitely not my favourite performance of 2024. (Who would have thought...)
"Anora" is a very, very loud movie, the dialogue is sometimes screamed at you, which reminded me of the terrible experience I had watching "Uncut Gems": I can take the noise, it's just that everything is too cahotic and frantic and I don't appreciated it.
Furthermore, the story didn't necessarily compelled me, not my cup of tea. The sex workers subject is interesting, but it lost me when the family got involved: I'm not much into movies about mafia, gangsters and similar topics. Not for me.
What I did really enjoye is Yura Borisov's character and performance. He is amazing in the movie, a real scene-stealer for me. At the beginning he's only in the background, but he slowly gains momentum until, in the end, he reveals himself to be one of the few people (possibly the only one) who shows Anora some kindness. I was really impressed by Borisov's portrayal, possibly also because he's not so in your face like every other character of this movie.
So, now that we all know that this is 2025's Best Picture winner at this Oscars, I'll say this (and maybe time will prove me wrong or I will change my mind): "The Substance" is an iconic movie in so many ways and it will forever be remembered as such. I don't know if we can say the same about "Anora".
Cast: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Aleksei Serebryakov.
Box Office: $47.2 million
Worth a watch?: #TeamDemi didn't work so here we are, with a different Best Actress winner, still an extremely impressive performance. Funny enough, the story of "The Substance" came to life on Oscars' night, when Demi Moore lost the chance of a lifetime to a younger actress.
"Anora" isn't my favourite movie, it's been a tough watch to be completely honest, it's a very loud movie and the characters constantly scream at each other. If you like that type of chaos, there's plenty for you here. The sex workers topic is also interesting, but the story quickly shifts to Anora and Vanya's crazy love story, so it's a bit of a missed opportunity there for me. All in all, it's worth watch it to come up with your own opinion about the movie, but I'm definitely going to watch it again soon.
Awards: 6 Oscar nominations and 5 wins: Best Picture, Director, Actress (Mikey Madison), Original Screenplay, and Film Editing (only missed Best Supporting Actor for Yura Borisov). 2 BAFTA wins over 7 nominations (for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Casting) and 5 Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actress (Madison), Best Supporting Actor (Borisov), Best Director, and Best Screenplay. The movie won the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
Key word: Wedding.
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Bengi

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.
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Bengi

Film 2338 - Queer

Intro: Always excited to watch one of Luca Guadagnino's movies, especially when the story centers around queer characters.

Film 2338: "Queer" (2024), Luca Guadagnino
Watched on: At the movies
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh, Debbi
Thoughts: God I didn't like this movie.
Although I read very (and various) favorable reviews online, I have to admit that for me "Queer" was a drag. The story didn't resonate with me at all and i couldn't wait for it to be over, especially the second half of it. Once we hit the jungle looking for the mysterios telepathic plant this movie lost me. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...
Three things I particularly liked about "Queer": Daniel Craig's performance - which is great throughout, the craftmenship of this production (cinematography, score, art design and set decoration) and that, for once, Luca Guadagnino is finally centering a gay story around the man's body. On the latter, I noticed that Guadagnino tends to 'hide' the male body in a way that doesn't apply when it comes to the female one: particularly, in "Call Me By Your Name" he shows a naked woman in the film, but he refused to show the two leads naked and stated "that it was a conscious aesthetic decision" (more on this topic on this article by Variety). Also, I found "Challengers" to be a bit on the queerbaiting side of things.
That said, I appreciated this time around there was no hiding behind an aesthetic decision.
For the rest, I've found "Queer" extremely long (137 min) and suprisingly uneventful considering that we even venture to the jungle. This part specifically reminded me of the movie "The Lost City of Z", where the slow pacing and lack of major events resurfaced memories of Martin Scorsese's "Silence", tho I liked that one better.
All in all, considering how eger I was to watch this movie, I can't say I wasn't disappointed: it's too long and too slow and the second half of the story is too crazy and detached from the first half for my taste. No disrespect to the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs from which the movie is based on as I haven't read it, but this is definitely not my cup of tea.
Cast: Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Jason Schwartzman, Henrique Zaga, Omar Apollo, Lesley Manville.
Box Office: $3.9 million
Worth a watch?: I wouldn't reccommend it. The pacing is slow and the story takes a crazy turn towards half the running time and it goes bonkers for a good while. If you're fan of William S. Burroughs's work you could give it a go, but embrace yourself for a long watch.
Awards: Daniel Craig was nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and is currently nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the SAG Awards.
The movie competed at the Venice Film Festival.
Key word: Telepathy.
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Bengi