(with some not so well thought out impressions)
Wicked: I've not seen the stage show and not really that into musicals generally. Thought it was OK. Well acted, high production values, well structured story but didn't really speak to me.
Kill: Hindi film about two military commando bros who take on a gang of murderous thieves. A lot of satisfying gory violence. Decent one time watch.
Babygirl: It works but the ending was anticlimactic. Nice build up but they should have really pushed the envelope. In the end it kind of neatly wraps up with no loose ends. The story itself is pretty bare bones but very nicely shot and well acted. tldr: Story is very basic but is carried along with good acting, onscreen chemistry and direction.
Malcolm X: Not sure why I hadn't seen this sooner. Tbh, have some major gaps in my film viewing history... Decent watch but tonally incoherent. Denzel Washington's performance was masterful from X's early criminal phase to his later evolution into a firebrand speaker for the Nation of Islam. I appreciated Spike Lee's stylistic flourishes although I don't think it added much. Maybe it was worth leaning more into the conceptual to convey the psychological aspects of X's life. Also, the ending with contemporary black voices seemed a bit half-baked.
Past Lives: The best film I've seen this year. A romantic drama set in Korea and New York. The story presented a genuinely unique take on romantic fulfilment/unfulfilment, how small moments of the past can cling to us and colour how we come to evaluate life in unpredictable and tragic ways. Well paced, well shot, well acted. You'll feel some shit.
Maria: Saw this today and honestly the first thought when watching the first sequence of the film was this reminds me of a perfume ad with a model doing random shit in a baroque French mansion. I don't know anything about Opera and Maria Callas. The film was/is my main source of information on her. The film depicts Maria in her final days. She just comes across as quite unlikeable and self-absorbed. I get it, you were a GOAT of opera, you're a perfectionist, people love you, you had a hard life, but ultimately she just comes across as a very uncompelling and weak person who just wanted to be adored.
The Second Act: A meta take on film making, AI, and human creativity. Depicts actors working on a film written by an artificial intelligence. 90% was made up of tracking shots and conversation. I probably wasn't paying enough attention to catch the clever bits of subtextual commentary but it was still an engaging and fun watch. The actors were pretty masterful in the way they were in and out of character.
Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris: A short film with interviews between the English filmmakers and Baldwin, and a conversation between Baldwin and some black American students in Paris. Not of much note other than Baldwin being extremely prickly with the English guy trying to interview him. Tbf to Baldwin, the questions were quite uninspired and the interviewer didn't really have an ability to establish rapport and get on the same wavelength as Baldwin.
Invisible Demons: Documentary about pollution in New Delhi narrated by a wealthy Delhite. The documentary presents various shots of Delhi and the river that runs through it. Interviews with people from various walks of life. The documentary also follows a rather bougie NDTV news reporter who reports on the pollution crisis plaguing Delhi. The shots of Delhi's rubbish dump that tower over the city and the rag pickers that frequent it were particularly dystopian alongside the shots of the black, lifeless, and chemical-waste ridden river.
Priscilla: A decent watch, well paced, you really get a sense of the slow drip process of control that Elvis used on Priscilla. Well acted by the lead actors although the actress playing Priscilla came across as lacking personality. There were various methods of control and coercion used. Some of that control was just a reflection of how self absorbed Elvis was. The last phase of the film felt rushed. I felt like I didn't really get a sense of how Priscilla decided to break away from Elvis. The process of control far outwieghed the way the process of freedom occurred especially on a pyschological level.
Bring Them Down: Takes the crown as the best film of the year so far. Tight script, pitch perfect pacing, and beautiful cinematography with stunning shots of the rugged hills of Ireland. The cast was brilliant in this tense revenge thriller. There were moments of comedy that deftly pierced the tension. The non-linear storytelling worked without feeling knowingly clever and showy. Go and watch it.
Challengers: OK watch. Been a while since I've seen this and the memory is already fading. The performances were solid and the chemistry between the three main characters kept me invested. Tbh, it's difficult to root for the characters whilst they try to make a life in the rarefied world of professional tennis. Although, the struggles invovled in trying to get better at something and having that thing tied to your self-esteem is something that a lot of people can relate to. Overall, a decent one time watch.
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person: Really fun dark coming of age comedy about a vampire who doesn't like killing people and a suicidal human who agrees to being killed by the reluctant vampire girl.
I'm Still Here: A poignant film about a family torn apart by a military coup in 1970s Brazil. The film brilliantly shifts in tone from establishing the happy, almost utopian family life to the sudden plunge into fear and uncertainty. Fernanda Torres plays the lead character who through strength and positivty holds her family together and fights for justice after the abduction of her husband by the military regime. I think the film is worth watching for Torres' performance. It also gives a small insight into Brazil at that time
Substance: A fun and gross dark comedy body-horror that feels like a film trying to speak to the people of LA and those that have bought into the cosmetic surgery culture. Both leads gave solid performances. Demi Moore stood out as she deftly transitions from a fit 50-something to a grotesque witch-like figure as her younger incarnation steals her life-force from her. The blood soaked finale was such a satisfying conclusion. The film is worth a watch just for that ending. The film tackles the themes of self-harm in the pursuit of beauty, the male gaze, society's commodification of women's bodies, and also just a very pointed critique of LA's cult of beauty and extreme cosmetic intervention.
Probably will update these little impressions into something more coherent.