Emilia Pérez (2024) | REVIEW

Zoe Saldaña in EMILIA PÉREZ — PHOTO: Shanna Besson.

Directed by Jacques Audiard — Screenplay by Jacques Audiard.

As was already evident based on Julia Ducournau’s Titane and Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, modern day French filmmakers sometimes gravitate toward these ambitious and unique films that defy genre conventions and classifications (and that are difficult to describe to acquaintances without getting strange looks) with great success. Un Prophet and Dheepan director Jacques Audiard, a Palme d’Or winning filmmaker, had similar aspirations recently with his Emilia Pérez, which is arguably most succinctly described as a gender transition musical crime film (mostly set in Mexico and mostly in Spanish) despite the fact that it contains even more sides than even that brief description encompasses. Emilia Pérez has already earned Audiard and his cast plenty of awards attention including the Jury Prize and Best Actress award (for its four female principal actresses) at the Cannes film festival. Nonetheless, the film has also been met with criticism from both Mexican audiences and the LGBTQ+ community. Setting aside all of the praise and all of the controversy, how good is the actual film itself? Well, let’s have a look.

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‘Fallen Leaves,’ ‘C’mon C’mon,’ ‘The Salesman,’ and ‘The Dead Don’t Hurt’ | Bite-Sized Reviews

Top Row (L-R): FALLEN LEAVES (B-Plan Distribution / Pandora Film); C’MON C’MON (A24).
Bottom Row (L-R): THE SALESMAN (Film Iran / Memento Films); The Dead Don’t Hurt (Scanbox Entertainment).

In this post, I’ll give you my thoughts on my first Aki Kaurismäki experience, a 2-time Cannes award winning Farhadi film, an underseen Joaquin Phoenix film, and Viggo Mortensen’s latest film as a writer-director.

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‘Night Swim,’ ‘IF,’ ‘For Evigt,’ and ‘Birthday Girl’ | Bite-Sized Reviews

Top Row (L-R): NIGHT SWIM (Universal Pictures); IF (Paramount Pictures).
Bottom Row (L-R): FOR EVIGT (Nordisk Film); Birthday Girl (Nordisk Film).

In addition to all of the other reviews I’m publishing by themselves, and other relevant articles to kick off the year, I am also starting the year by publishing a small handful of bite-sized review compilation posts. In this edition, I’ll give you my thoughts on two Danish films from last year that didn’t fully win me over, as well as an American horror film released 12 months ago, and John Krasinski’s family film about imaginary friends.

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Nosferatu (2024) | REVIEW

Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu — PHOTO: Focus Features / Universal Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Robert Eggers (The Witch; The Northman) — Screenplay by Robert Eggers

Everyone knows the name Dracula. That name and character have become such an indelible part of horror fandom and popular culture since the original Bram Stoker epistolary gothic horror novel was published back in 1897 and forever put a name to the quintessential vampire figure. It’s a character that has been played by so many iconic actors through time including Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Nicolas Cage, and Gary Oldman. You may not have seen all of those films, but, I’m pretty sure, even if you haven’t seen a ‘Dracula movie’ before, certain images instantly pop into your head due to cultural osmosis when you hear the name. I am, however, not as certain most people know about ‘nosferatu,’ and, unless you’re a cinephile or a horror aficionado, you almost definitely don’t know who, or what, Count Orlok is. Kids may dress up as Dracula for Halloween (and many probably do), but you’re going to have to search for quite some time if you want to find someone who dressed up as Orlok. 

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Juror #2 (2024) | REVIEW

Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult in JUROR #2 — Photograph by Claire Folger/Warner Bros.

Directed by Clint Eastwood — Screenplay by Jonathan Abrams.

Movie-star-turned-filmmaker Clint Eastwood is a 94-year-old four-time Oscar winner who is still working with some of the industry’s best actors and studios. Although we’d all love for him to keep making films forever, this could theoretically be the final film from one of the very few stars of Hollywood of which adults of all ages will have had some kind of knowledge. It could even, given his status and talent as a filmmaker, have been a genuine Oscar contender. You would think, then, that this film — which stars actors like Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Kiefer Sutherland, and others — would be a film that Warner Bros. would proudly release in theaters as prestigious cinema for grown-ups. And yet, that’s not exactly what happened. Eastwood’s potentially final film was released in fewer than 50 theaters across the United States, as well as modest theatrical releases in only a select few territories around the world. Instead, it was prioritized as a holiday streaming release as a ‘Max Original’. It sounds like a headscratcher even before you see the film, and, frankly, it’s still a headscratcher after you see it because, well, Juror #2 is a gripping legal thriller that shows that Clint Eastwood, even at 94 years old, still has what it takes to make compelling films.

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10 Most Read Articles and Reviews: 2024

We’re now in 2025. Granted, it’s only the first day of the new year, but, hey, we have to accept that 2024 is now in our collective rearview mirror. Like has become tradition on this website, I start every year by listing the ten articles or reviews written in 2024 that were the most popular based on views. At the very end of the article, I’ll even reveal what non-2024 written output was the most popular in the year to which we have now all said goodbye. Let’s get to it!

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Goodbye 2024

Tonight, we say goodbye and farewell to yet another year. Every year has its highs and lows and 2024 was no different. When I think about highs and lows in 2024, a lot of things come to mind, including many global issues and crises. But, frankly, if I were to think of a couple of images that sum up both crushing defeat and our ability to rise up and out of the ashes, I think about buildings. Yeah, that’s right. In April of 2024, the iconic and historic Danish building and tourist attraction Børsen (which translates to ‘the stock exchange’) burned down. I was in Copenhagen on the day that it happened, and I remember how I and everyone around me lost focus and just started looking out of the window at smoke rising, as a building that’s always been a part of our lives was suddenly gone before you knew it. There is hope that it can be rebuilt, and it is that hope that I want to highlight here because, as a symbol, I am immediately reminded of the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris following its own tragic and fiery catastrophe. When we fall, we can rise again. If we do it together, we can rebuild what we hold dear. And even though the state of the world can look scary, we can unite around worthy causes to keep culture and history alive for generations to come. We need that hope.

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Top Ten TV-Shows of 2024

Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti in THE PENGUIN — PHOTO: Macall Polay/HBO.

I watched so many television (and/or streaming) shows this year. In my notes, I was trying to jot down all of the shows that I had seen and, given that I also watch a lot of movies every year, I was even a little bit shocked at how much time I spent watching entertainment (especially because I was very busy with other stuff this year). But, hey, I do love crashing and/or chilling in front of the television, watching a good show, and then jotting down my notes. And, you know, there were a lot of good shows this year. Some of the shows that it hurts to have to leave off the list this time around are Bad Sisters, Disclaimer, The English Teacher, Under the Bridge, The Boys, and Sugar (and I could, honestly, go on). But there can only be ten shows on this list, and let’s now have a look at what shows made it!

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Top Ten TV-Shows of 2023

Bella Ramsey as ‘Ellie’ and Pedro Pascal as ‘Joel’ in HBO’s THE LAST OF US — PHOTO: HBO / Liane Hentscher.

The long-awaited (and very late, sorry) list of the top ten TV or streaming shows of 2023 is finally here! I watched a lot of excellent shows in 2023, and I loved a great many shows that couldn’t land a spot on this list, such as Shrinking, Silo, Black Mirror, and Hijack. But, in the end, there are only ten spots on this list, and, well, there are some outstanding series here that just had to be on the list. Speaking of which, let’s now finally get to that very list.

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11th I’m Jeffrey Rex Awards – 2023

I know. I didn’t just forget which year we’re in. We’re about to say goodbye to 2024, and here I am with a list of the very best films, shows, and whatnot from 2023? That’s certainly a choice, right? Look, I’ll be honest. I’ve been pretty busy this year, and I, around summer time, felt like I might as well wait until I had seen the two or three films that I felt I had to watch before publishing my lists for 2023. It kind of makes sense, right? If it’s already late, then I might as well make sure the choices are bulletproof, you know? Anyhow, here we are, and I’m going to be running you through all of my winners in a single post. Some awards have been canned (e.g. poster, trailer), other fresh ones have been added (e.g. stunts). It’ll take some time, but stick with me here. Oh, and look on the bright side, this way the wait between the 2023 and 2024 lists won’t be all that long. Anyway, let’s get to it (and happy holidays!). 

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