Break out the sandworm popcorn buckets and head back to Arrakis. This time in theaters … as if only seeing the first DUNE on my TV stopped it from being a great film. So great, in fact, that I may just wait to watch the sequel at home too. Or maybe I’ll hit the theater for the first time in 2024. I honestly don’t know.
Being that this is another one review week, I might be leaning towards the former. Although work should slow after next week. And I wouldn’t be hitting DUNE 2 until at least its second week (if not third) due to the potential crowds anyway.
I’ll focus on finishing TRUE DETECTIVE Season 3 (and perhaps start Season 4) instead. I’ve really been enjoying this fluid journey through time and memory with Mahershala Ali. It’s been surprisingly funny (loved seeing David Milch’s name credited on episode four) and more like a “real case” than the previous two seasons. It’s not about the cops surviving while doing this one big job. It’s about this one big job being Hayes’ survival by unlocking his past from dementia.
What I Watched:
IO CAPITANO
(limited release; Italy’s 2024 International Oscar submission)
Teenage cousins Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) have a dream to leave poverty in Senegal behind and become famous musicians in Europe. They’ve worked in secret to raise the money, telling their mothers they’re out playing soccer because they know they’d never approve of the dangerous journey over desert and sea. This fantasy success with the potential to change their family’s circumstances forever guides them forward while their naïveté holds them back whenever someone looking to exploit them offers an impossible “deal” as help.
The latest from acclaimed director Matteo Garrone, IO CAPITANO quickly crushes these idealistic boys’ hearts once their trek across Africa begins. Everything that could go wrong on this endeavor does as bodies are left behind in the sand, Libyan mafiosos inflict torture, and survival demands slave labor. First the coyotes they paid refuse to fulfill their promises. Then prison opens their eyes to the malicious greed of remorseless men. A few glimmers of hope break through (see Issaka Sawadogo’s kindly Martin), but this gauntlet is mostly a trial by fire testing Seydou’s resolve.
Will he keep going? Will he succumb to fear? Will he rise above the countless opportunists and criminals met along the way to take responsibility for the lives of those around him and be the one who promises them safety? You could call the film a coming-of-age story as a result—a boy finding the strength and courage to embrace manhood as a position of compassion and protection rather than power and control. Don’t therefore expect many “fairy tale” flights of fancy (or assume that the brief moments that do appear are born from accomplishment rather than futility) despite the poster. This is a familiar film built upon true tales of survivors that borders on miserablism.
I’m honestly surprised it broke through for an Oscar nomination. I shouldn’t considering miserablism generally earns The Academy’s attention, but I did expect more from it. That’s not to say it isn’t very well-made or acted. It’s simply a lot more by-the-numbers and episodic in nature than I would have thought considering how many truly unique breaths of fresh air were submitted. It hits the right emotional notes, though. And it’s impossible not to root for Sarr. For anyone who’s followed the news or watched documentaries on the subject, however, it proves a solid dramatic take on what you already know. No more, no less.
- 7/10
Cinematic F-Bombs:
This weekend sees ATL (2006), THE COMPANY (2003), THE HOLDOVERS (2023), HUSH (1998), and THE ONE (2001) getting added to the archive (cinematicfbombs.com on Sunday, Twitter on Monday)
New Releases This Week:
(Review links where applicable)
Opening Buffalo-area theaters 3/1/24 -
CHAARI 111 at Regal Elmwood
DUNE: PART TWO at Dipson Amherst, McKinley, Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
OPERATION VALENTINE at Regal Elmwood & Galleria
ENNIO at North Park Theatre
JOSHUA: IMAI POL KAKA at Regal Transit
Streaming from 3/1/24 -
MEGAMIND VS. THE DOOM SYNDICATE – Peacock on 3/1
MY NAME IS LOH KIWAN – Netflix on 3/1
NAPOLEON – AppleTV+ on 3/1
SPACEMAN – Netflix on 3/1
YOU ARE NOT ALONE – Netflix on 3/1
A REVOLUTION ON CANVAS – Max on 3/5
RICKY STANICKY – Prime on 3/7
Now on VOD/Digital HD -
THE BEEKEEPER (2/27)
GOOD BURGER 2 (2/27)
LISA FRANKENSTEIN (2/27)
MONSTER (2/27)
“Screenwriter Yûji Sakamoto intentionally tells this story of a young boy three times with vary degrees of detail augmented by each chapter's specific vantage point. He sets our expectations with the desire to upend them. Will it be for better or worse?” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
OUT OF DARKNESS (2/27)
“Yes, it’s another "we were the monsters all along" narrative, but it arrives in a unique package that embraces the nihilism of the concept instead of the hope that might remain despite it.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
PARALLEL (2/27)
POOR THINGS (2/27)
“I don't think the final result is as smart as it thinks it is or that what it's saying is profound, let alone unique, but POOR THINGS is an entertaining ride that proves how not all experiments work perfectly. But we shouldn't discount the attempt in case the next one does.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
SALTBURN (2/27)
“[Keoghan] carries this diversionary tale of "eat the rich" politics right through a silly curtain lift that makes it seem Fennell thinks we're as vapidly dumb as the Cattons covering their eyes when THE RING is on TV.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
THE SWEET EAST (2/27)
TRUST (2/27)
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS? (2/27)
AMELIA’S CHILDREN (3/1)
DOUBLE DOWN SOUTH (3/1)
SCRAMBLED (3/1)