Challengers is the freshest, hottest, most playful film released at cinemas in a quite a while. Luca Guadagnino amazingly manages to match himself, and come up with yet another movie that catches the zeitgeist, after the excellent Call Me By Your Name. TikTok is now full of memes of people pretending to be tennis players or giving looks with innuendo while doing chores in slow motion, all set to the techno music from the amazing soundtrack by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross. Guadagnino plays off the amazing screenplay by first-timer Justin Kuritzkes (husband of Celine Song who did the also amazing Past Lives) that has a great structure with flashbacks that build the heat throughout the film while we watch the central tennis match visualize the character confrontation. At the same time we get three amazing characters, talking in snappy dialogue, evident of Kuritzkes' playwriting background. But what viewers really get to enjoy, front and center, are the amazing performances by Zendaya, Josh O' Connor and the immensely talented Mike Faist, who after playing the bad guy in Spielberg's West Side Story, here he finally gets all the attention he deserves. The film has great energy, chemistry and rhythm. At the end, it has audiences jumping off the edge of their seats, and the match isn't finished yet. This is cinema as it should become again. A cultural moment you have to go and enjoy in a dark theatre and talk about for weeks to come. Challengers is already, the film of the year.

A

Trailer: https://youtu.be/MDnVk5jIJr0

All of Us Strangers is a monumental film. Not only for gay men or for people like me who were kids in the 80s but for everyone who feels lonely in a city, who is missing a parent, and who thinks of the past with nostalgia for their family life. But yes, this film will shatter gay men and especially those who not only had to come out to their parents but had to do it during the 80s, at a time of AIDS and in a society on the brink of becoming what it is today, but not there yet. Thankfully, those kids had the 80s British pop music to turn to for solace. And thankfully for all of us, the director of this masterpiece, Andrew Haigh, was one of those kids. By turning inside to his own family trauma and even filming this at his old family house where he grew up as a kid, he has managed to create a piece of art that talks to the hearts of every human. Gay or not. Andrew Scott is phenomenal, as are all the actors. Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, and Claire Foy. They give performances that will haunt you in scenes you'll carry forever. The cinematography is amazing, London feels real and magic at the same time. And the music, and those songs... My God. I grew up listening to the radio when Frankie Goes To Hollywood had their first top-10 hit. I never knew their songs would feel so powerful 40 years later. This is the most powerful finale in a movie in ages. One of the best films not only of the year but of the last decade. Don't miss it!

A

Trailer: https://youtu.be/O97iSjvqBlY

The Holdovers is an honorable attempt by Alexander Payne to craft a 70s-like character drama, complete with film grain and trembling supers in the trailer, as well as an old-school voice narration. The creators are trying to prove wrong the phrase "They don't make them like they used to", by trying to do exactly that, and they mostly succeed. Because the empty-for-Christmas school setting is quiet and intimate. The acting by Paul Giamatti, as well as newcomer Dominic Tessa, is excellent, supported by Da'vine Joy Randolph. The whole premise is evocative of films you've seen and loved in the past. But you see, the thing is, you feel the template. You sense the cliche. You've seen it all before. Is it a welcome return to that feeling? Yes. Is it successful? Well. For a while, the film is trying to find its rhythm and tonality. The comedy isn't hitting its marks all the time, and the pace is slow. But after the midpoint, the film starts finding its groove. And the relationship between teacher and student produces sparks. We get a great commentary on class, discrimination, and racism, still relevant today, plus an affectionate tale about what teaching is all about. The ending is magnificent. Moving and at just the right tone. Perfect and delicate. Definitely worth your time and reflection. As well as the efforts of Payne, writer David Hemingson, and all involved.

B+

Trailer: https://youtu.be/AhKLpJmHhIg

Poor Things is great fun! It's Yorgos Lanthimos's most accessible film, although some would say it's still "weird." But, in a year where the most popular Best Picture nominees are the non-linear timeline-spinning Oppenheimer, the didactic musical that is Barbie, or even the three-and-a-half-hour-long seen-it-before Gangster-Western Killers of the Flower Moon, I believe that Poor Things is the most straightforward epic storytelling in cinemas, with a prototype hero audiences can root for, a clearly established character arc we can follow, a highly engaging and fun set of episodes to go through, and a definite happy end that will bring catharsis for all. This is a high-concept comedy that has audiences laughing out loud while going through a classic cinematic adventure that evokes the majestic Frankenstein and other epic tales of old Hollywood. At the same time, it is the most original and modern film about patriarchy and reclaiming women's place in society. All that, with a captivating Emma Stone giving the best and funniest performance by a leading actress in years, accompanied by an amazing set of supporting roles led by Mark Ruffalo and William Dafoe, filmed in the most colorful and unique style of cinematography inside the most fantastic film sets constructed in years, wearing extraordinary costumes, accompanied by the most distinctive music soundtrack you've heard recently. We're definitely talking about a masterpiece worthy of all the Oscars this year, with my only complaint being that this Odyssey might be just a tad too long, even though I wouldn't mind seeing it a second time to marvel again at all the "poor things" gathered in this amazingly rich production.

A

Trailer: https://youtu.be/RlbR5N6veqw

May December is Todd Haynes' new film, starring two incredible actresses who come together in a study of what the acting method is and what liberties art can take while trying to imitate life. At the same time, the film examines America's obsession with real-life "crime" stories, reenacting them in TV movies and gossip magazines, feeding society's need to eavesdrop and relive what it assumes to be the real story. The film benefits from a fantastic performance by Natalie Portman, supported by the always excellent Julianne Moore as well as Charles Melton and the rest of the cast. Shot in film stock at idyllic locations in Savannah, Georgia, the movie is a marvel to watch unfold through a series of conversations, joined together with interludes of some artsy close-ups of hatching butterflies while ominous music adapted from a previous Michel Legrand soundtrack plays out loud.

A-

Trailer: https://youtu.be/_2wg45bRRF8

The Zone of Interest is a haunting allegory for our society’s indifference to what’s happening besides our territory, whether that is our home or our country. We let whatever atrocities happen outside our own “zone of interest” go on as long as our house is in order, and our first-world problems are taken care of. The metaphor is surprisingly strong in a film that examines the domestic life at the home of the Nazi commander at Auschwitz, built literally next to the wall of the concentration camp that killed thousands of Jews in the furnace. History and drama best work as a mirror, and in this particular one, one can see today’s Russia dealing with the war in Ukraine, today’s America concerning the war in Israel, and all of Europe turning a blind eye to the immigrants trying to swim the Mediterranean. Filmed with immense realism in its staging, acting, and production design and elevated to new cinematic heights with an amazing sound design, this film will have you in shock and awe without ever showing a single Holocaust victim, much like Spielberg’s Jaws created horror without showing a shark for half the film. Artful and innovative in its narration, this might not be the most entertaining movie of the year, but perhaps one of the most important.

A-

Trailer: https://youtu.be/GFNtVaAuVYY

Blackberry is a clever and funny film about the incredible real story behind the creation of the most dominant smartphone platform that spread like an infectious addiction in the hands of corporate people around the world before Steve Jobs gave us all the iPhone. The film feels like a fly-on-the-wall filmed documentary, as well as a parody of corporate life, like The Office, while it also acts as a history lesson and commentary on start-up culture, like The Social Network. But above all, it's a lively comedy with an excellent cast that looks at its subject matter with affection and admiration for that Canadian underdog team that managed to conquer corporate America with some smart thinking and geek culture. No little Canadian story deserved to be that good, but like the start-up that inspired it, this film outsmarts most Hollywood comedies made in 2023.

B+

Trailer: https://youtu.be/cXL_HDzBQsM

Maestro is intended as a biopic of Leonard Bernstein, the conductor who made classical music popular in American culture and scored On the Waterfront as well as West Side Story both on stage and in the legendary film adaptation(s). But if you didn't know much about him, then you're out of luck. This film will not teach you anything of that sort, nor will it enlighten us on how this musical genius came to compose his famous music nor what gave his conducting of the orchestra such energy. Bradley Cooper and his co-screenwriter, Josh Singer, have done so much research that they take Bernstein's talent for granted and consider his musical achievements known to the whole world. So instead, they focus on his personal life and specifically his marriage to Felicia Montealegre, played by an excellent Carey Mulligan, and how his marriage concealed his homosexuality, both from the outside world and also within his family.

His amazing music becomes then a series of needle drops throughout the film that help set the tone. Additionally, the crafting of Bradley Cooper's direction goes to extremes, using music, sound, cinematography, and set design as stage play elements to showcase Leny's career highlights in parallel to the story of his marriage. Some things, like makeup, get in the way at times, while others, like the amazing editing and sound design, elevate the film to great artistic heights. And then there are the performances themselves, with both Mulligan and Cooper giving career-best turns and some amazingly intimate and devastating family moments toward the end of the film. In the end, the sacrifice of family in the pursuit of art throughout one's life is the most prevalent theme in a film that is either a flawed masterpiece or a masterful error. But it's definitely an important artistic piece of work for an immensely great artist.

B+

Trailer: https://youtu.be/gJP2QblqLA0