Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is yet another feather in the cap for the director who amassed one of the strongest resumes of the 2010s (works include Enemy, Sicario, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049). The sheer size of the project impresses. But, Villeneuve’s ability to tell this story may even surpass the visual ambition. It is difficult to be awed by storytelling—and after David Lynch’s troubled 1984 version and the sheer complexities of Frank Herbert’s novel, I guess I just assumed this material was unadaptable—but with this effort Denis would provide one heck of a laser show. Neither of these

It is hard to separate the 1984 film Dune from the story of its failed adaptation (even the most adamant defenders often admit it does not do Frank Herbert’s novel justice) and the story around its troubled production. David Lynch himself, one of the great auteurs of all-time, has added to this calling this film a failure (he talks about it being the only film he did not have control of the final cut). However, there are still some commendable sequences in the film that still make it worthy of study. This is his third film after Eraserhead in

Pedro Almodóvar’s most frequent collaborators in the 1980s- the great Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas- are back for Law of Desire. This is Almodovar leaning into Hitchcock again with the heavy Bernard Herrmann- like strings during the opening credits. There are almost like this second set of credits- Almodovar (like Hitchcock- often like Fassbinder), clearly cares about his opening sequences. Here he freezes on neon titles, and then uses black and white- almost like a little film within a film. Almodovar continues his stellar work in vibrant colors- often including stories about the creative process (writers with old school

Darkman is just Sam Raimi’s fourth film and it is a worthy effort. It comes in 1990, the year after Batman, and with Darkman using a Danny Elfman score and obviously living in the same subgenre (this would happen again with Spider Man), it is hard not think of Tim Burton’s work. At the 20-minute mark, Raimi uses a superimposed transition from Frances McDormand (playing Julie Hastings- the love interest of Liam Neeson’s Peyton Westlake- and this is far from the best work of either actor). As always, Raimi blends the dark mood with comedy- “All they found was

Dario Argento is back in great Giallo horror tradition just one year after his debut. Ennio Morricone returns working again with Argento (and though the tone is different—Morricone is another bridge between the Spaghetti Westerns and Giallo horror). Argento’s camera tracks forward in his now trademark point-of-view style- pushing through doors A marvelous cinematic and formal touch employed by Argento is the closeup of the eyeball (of the killer- not to reveal the killer’s identity of course). Argento splices to it at least eight to ten times. A blind man witnesses the murder (a great Karl Malden)- and of

Crooklyn starts with a swooping crane shot capturing summer life in Brooklyn in 1973 with “People Make the World Go Round” from The Stylistics. Nostalgia reigns as a swoon-worthy montage shows children play double dutch, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, and dumping copious amounts of sugar into their lemonade. This story is written by Spike and his siblings and is loosely based on their life growing up though the main protagonist is young Troy (Zelda Harris). Like much of Spike’s work, the dialogue overlaps in loud, realistic, often combative exchanges. The father and mother (the fabulous Delroy Lindo and

Craig Gillespie’s Cruella looks like what Tim Burton’s version of The Devil Wears Prada may look like - especially if both the sorcerer and the apprentice roles (nemeses as well) were able to dial up their performance like Meryl does. Emma Stone plays the apprentice and titular character- Estella Cruella. She gets the deliciously sardonic George Sanders or Jeremy Irons-like voice over. Emma Thompson plays The Baroness. And certainly, one of the film’s strengths is the pleasure of watching these two great actors crow. Thompson has a hilarious scene where she’s holding her reading glasses about a yard away.

Titane is the sophomore effort from Julia Docournau (Raw- 2016). Vincent Lindon (playing Vincent) stars opposite of Agathe Rousselle (both Alexia and Adrien) in 2021’s Palme d'Or winner. Docournau’s film is a breath of fresh air—wholly unpredictable. She (both this and Raw) feels like the distant relative of David Cronenberg’s work. Indeed, when Alexia makes violent love to an automobile, one can feel Docournau channeling Crash (1996). In the marvelous opening (after the scenes of Alexia as a child and the accident), Docournau’s camera weaves around the exotic dancers (Alexia, now as an adult, included) at the auto show.

Mary Harron’s American Psycho took fifteen (15) years to debut on the TSPDT top 1000 of the 21st century list. It now (as of the date writing this) sits at the lofty position of #283 (still underrated). It has been a fun ride for a worthy film and a promising sign that given a long enough timeline, the great films eventually rise to the top. American Psycho’s masterful script is mostly from Bret Easton Ellis savage (and highly controversial) novel. Harron gets credit for curating. She is smart to capture Patrick Bateman’s meticulously sick morning beauty routine via voice

With Undine, German auteur Christian Petzold reteams with actors Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski from 2018’s Transit taping into fantasy and myths. It is set and shot in Berlin, roughly 30 years after the fall of the wall --- and the film is obsessed with history repeating itself. A strong use of Bach by Pertzold. Undine (Beer) meets a man (Rogowski) in a restaurant after a fallout with her current lover. There is an aquarium, a diver, green algae…and this green pervades the rest of Petzold’s work down to the stickies in Undine’s office or the drapes in her