Category: Best of I’m Jeffrey Rex

Poor Things (2023) | REVIEW

Emma Stone as ‘Bella Baxter’ on a cruise ship looking out to a dazzling view in Yorgos Lanthimos’ POOR THINGS — PHOTO: Searchlight Pictures.

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos — Screenplay by Tony McNamara.

Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthims’ English-language films have all had a clear and obvious imprint of his on them. We have seen this in the absurdist genre-benders The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer — both remembered for the characters’ deadpan delivery and Lanthimos’ distinctive style, with the former being a comedy and the latter being something akin to a psychological thriller — but also in the much more accessible period chamber-piece and Oscar-triumph The Favourite. It would’ve been understandable for admirers of his to worry that by becoming more of a ‘name’ in Hollywood that might lead him to abandon his recurring themes or distinctive absurdist style to curry favor in Tinseltown. If you have been concerned about that then rest assured knowing that it is not the case. Rather, his latest feature-length effort Poor Things shows that the European auteur has steered back in the other direction by having his most ambitious English-language feature yet be just as potentially prickly, boundary-testing, strange, and borderline inaccessible for sheer brazenness as his first two English language features. Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things is ambitious, humorous, naughty, and off-kilter in the way art films are sometimes perceived to be by the average moviegoing audience, and, from my perspective, it also happens to be Lanthimos’ best work to date. Poor Things will shock certain audiences, but, make no mistake, Lanthimos’ absurdist and bold female coming-of-age film is one of the very best films of the year. Poor Things gives Greta Gerwig’s Barbie a run for its money when it comes to crowning 2023’s best film about the female experience and male attitudes to female bodily autonomy, agency, and liberation.

Continue reading “Poor Things (2023) | REVIEW” →

The Worst Person in the World (2021) | REVIEW

Renate Rensve’s ‘Julie’ waking up after a blur of a night thanks to having partaken in psychedelic mushrooms in Joachim Trier’s VERDENS VERSTE MENNESKE — PHOTO: SF STUDIOS / TriArt Films.

Directed by Joachim Trier — Screenplay by Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier.

At the end of last month, I turned thirty years old. In the build-up to that turning of a corner, I must admit that I was feeling some kind of quarter-life crisis. Turning thirty reminded me that I should probably rewatch (and finally review) Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World (Norwegian Title: Verdens Verste Menneske), for reasons that will be obvious to those who are familiar with it, but if you aren’t, then please read on and I’ll elaborate. In any case, The Worst Person In the World is the much-lauded third film in Joachim Trier’s acclaimed Oslo Trilogy, the first two films of which — Reprise and Oslo 31. August — I reviewed just last year. As I pressed play and rewatched the Danish-born Norwegian director’s Oscar-nominated hit, I’ll admit that it hit me harder than it had on my first viewing. It is yet another example of the kind of intelligent filmmaker that Trier is, and I suspect it will carve its own place as a true classic for how it speaks to the quarter-life crisis.

Continue reading “The Worst Person in the World (2021) | REVIEW” →

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) | REVIEW

Lily Gladstone, Robert De Niro, and Leonardo DiCaprio in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” in theaters now — Photo: Apple.

Directed by Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver; Raging Bull; After Hours; Silence) — Screenplay by Eric Roth (A Star is Born; Dune; Forrest Gump) and Martin Scorsese.

Recently, I’ve been especially interested in how films sometimes act as history lessons to those who watch them, as well as how this can both be a good and a bad thing. Ultimately, films can be made for a variety of purposes depending on which person involved with the project that you’re asking. With films, there is often a commercial goal or an interest in serving as a piece of entertainment, and these aims can sometimes lead to historical films blurring the lines between truth and fiction to such an extent that you do history a disservice. Other times artistic expression is of the utmost importance, and then, of course, there are, indeed, times when films primarily exist to inform and teach. Most of the time, though, the true purpose of a film is a mixture of all of these motivations. Sometimes the artistic expression combines with a purpose to inform and thus the output manages to stand as a reminder of how certain events have been swept under the rug through history by those in power. Because ultimately history books are as easy to manipulate as any other medium. In the case of Killers of the Flower Moon, we have a piece of historical filmmaking that takes an intense look at the moral rot of America in the 1920s and 1930s. It is a bold and epic film about greed, betrayal, complicity, and a disturbingly very real attempt at genocide. It is an American tragedy from a master storyteller who shows for all to see that he understands exactly what his role is in telling this story, as well as who should be telling it.

Continue reading “Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) | REVIEW” →

Aftersun (2022) | REVIEW

Frankie Corioo (L) and Paul Mescal (R) in Charlotte Wells’ AFTERSUN — PHOTO: A24.

Directed by Charlotte Wells — Screenplay by Charlotte Wells.

There is no getting around the fact that I am extremely late to the party when it comes to Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun. Frankly, there are two reasons for that. Firstly, the 2022 film was released in February of 2023 in my region, so I would always be late to the party for this film which was first released at the Cannes Film Festival in May of last year (and which was already one of the most celebrated films in critics’ circles long before Danes would even get the chance to see it). Secondly, its local release back in February was inconvenient for me, as it came out at a time when I was preparing myself for something quite time-consuming (and potentially draining) in the first half of the year, as well as the fact that I was also scrambling to cover new 2023 releases at that time. I was, honestly, overwhelmed at that time — both in my daily life and by the hype that had snowballed rapidly for months with no end in sight. 

Continue reading “Aftersun (2022) | REVIEW” →

Infinity Pool (2023) | REVIEW

Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth with grotesque masks on their faces in Brandon Cronenberg’s INFINITY POOL — PHOTO: NEON / UNIVERSAL.

Directed by Brandon Cronenberg — Screenplay by Brandon Cronenberg.

“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” former U.S. President Donald Trump said at a campaign rally in 2016. With what has happened since then — such as his supporters’ January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, or the unyielding support that Trump still receives even after having been indicted (checks notes) 4 times — I think it would be fair to say that he’s probably right, even though it absolutely should not be true. Some people are just gobsmackingly blind to what is really going on — and once they find out who people really are, it is sometimes too late. Anyway, why am I mentioning this? Well, this idea that the uber-privileged have no relationship with consequences is something that has stuck with me ever since I first saw Infinity Pool, which is not at all about Trump but definitely is about who people are behind the masks that they hide behind in their outward-facing daily lives.

Continue reading “Infinity Pool (2023) | REVIEW” →

REVIEW: Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

The titular wooden boy in Guillermo Del Toro’s PINOCCHIO — PHOTO: NETFLIX.

Directed by Guillermo Del Toro and Mark Gustafson — Screenplay by Guillermo Del Toro and Patrick McHale – Story by Guillermo Del Toro and Matthew Robbins.

The story of Pinocchio has been told and retold over and over again since Carlo Collodi first wrote it in the 1880s. Nowadays it is mostly known for its classic 1940s Disney adaptation about a wooden boy who wants to be real and who sings the classic line about there being no strings on him. This year, Disney even tried to release a live-action remake which came and went without making much of an impression. Hopefully, fate will be kinder to Netflix’s stop-motion animation film that is directed by Guillermo Del Toro and Mark Gustafson, as it presents a more mature version of the story that updates the classic tale to a time of war.

In Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (titled thusly, even though he is not the only credited director), Geppetto (voiced by David Bradley) is heartbroken from the loss of his son Carlo decades ago in a bombing raid. On one of his nights out drinking, Geppetto screams angrily to the skies as lightning flashes above, and the woodcarver decides to cut down the pine tree that was planted in his son’s memory. Geppetto goes to work and carves the tree until he has created a wooden boy. When Geppetto passes out, Sebastian J. Cricket (voiced by Ewan McGregor) witnesses a spirit bringing the wooden boy to life as Pinocchio (voiced by Gregory Mann). Adamant that Pinocchio must be exactly like Carlo and be kept away from real-world dangers, Geppetto soon finds out that he cannot control his new lively boy, who gradually becomes more and more interesting to a traveling circus and the Italian government.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)” →

RETRO REVIEW: Oslo, 31. August (2011)

‘Anders’ (played by Anders Danielsen Lie) eavesdrops on conversations in a cafe in Oslo, Norway — PHOTO: Nordisk Film.

Directed by Joachim Trier — Screenplay by Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt.

Five years after having released his first film as a director, Reprise, the Danish-born Norwegian Director, Joachim Trier, his second film came out. It, Oslo, 31. August, is the second film in his critically acclaimed Oslo film trilogy. If you read my retro review of his feature-length debut, then you know how impressed I was by Trier’s Reprise. I’m here to tell you that somehow he outdid himself here. Oslo, 31. August hit me like a ton of bricks.

Continue reading “RETRO REVIEW: Oslo, 31. August (2011)” →

REVIEW: Dune (2021)

Josh Brolin, left, as Gurney Halleck and Timothée Chalamet, right, as Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE — Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) — Screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth.

When science-fiction neophytes first lay their eyes on the marketing material for Denis Villeneuve’s latest science-fiction film, Dune, they should be forgiven, if they immediately remark that it looks like an imitation of Star Wars — or other similar films. Obviously, they would be under a false impression, but, after all, it is a little bit strange that one of Star Wars‘ most obvious sources of inspiration — Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune — has not previously generated a widely known or appreciated adaptation.

In fact, the Dune property is perhaps especially renowned for being difficult to adapt. Famously, Alejandro Jodorowsky tried but failed to get an adaptation off the ground, while David Lynch’s adaptation from 1984 was critically panned. Those ‘failed’ attempts are, in fact, more widely known than the Sci-Fi Channel mini-series that the franchise also spawned. Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. have now entrusted auteur Denis Villeneuve with the job of adapting Frank Herbert’s rich, influential, and dense source material, and I think that was a very smart decision.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Dune (2021)” →

Mads Mikkelsen’s Top 10 Performances: Ranked

I hold the Danish thespian, Mads Mikkelsen, in high regard. I think of him as my nation’s finest actor, but also possibly the finest actor of his generation. He has proven himself both in his home country, overseas, and even in Hollywood. He’s a Bond-villain, a Marvel supervillain, and Hannibal the Cannibal. But he is also so much more than that. He is a skilled actor of many talents, who can be more than just a villain. He’s a star. Today, let’s take a trip through Mads Mikkelsen’s glorious career, as I rank his ten best roles and performances. Just to be clear, this is a ranking of his best film and television performances, so while his video game performance in Death Stranding is critically acclaimed, it is not eligible for this list. Now, let’s get to it. Continue reading “Mads Mikkelsen’s Top 10 Performances: Ranked” →

Top Ten Films of 2019

The 2010s have come to an end. Soon I will be posting several additional top ten lists on the best films of the previous decade. But, first, I have to close out last year in the right way with this top ten films of 2019-list. So, sit back, relax, and take a look at what films I think were the very best in a quite strong year for movies. Continue reading “Top Ten Films of 2019” →