Category Archives: 2025

The Voice of Hind Rajab

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The Voice of Hind Rajab                5 stars

One of the most important films of 2025 must be The Voice of Hind Rajab, written and directed by Kaouther Ben Hania of Tunisia. She heard of an incident that happened in Gaza in January 2024 where during the war, a six-year-old girl named Hind Rajab was killed by the IDF. The manner of her death was most harrowing. For hours she was trapped inside a car with the dead bodies of family members and was in telephone contact with volunteers at the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The volunteers tried frantically to get an ambulance to her while dealing with the bureaucratic nightmare of messages being passed to the Red Cross, then the IDF Cogat, then to the IDF in Gaza and back again. Ben Hania chose to represent the events by confining the action to the call center in Ramallah where four actors played the roles of the volunteers who were on the phone with the girl and with the government agencies. She chose not to represent Hind Rajab with an actor but instead used the actual audio recordings of her voice as part of the movie. The results are some of the most intense moments I can remember seeing on the screen. The three volunteers, Rana, Omar and Nisreen go from frantic to reassuring as they deal with the frustration of the situation but also try to keep the child calm in the face of danger, while Mahdi is trying to relay the urgency of the danger to the bureaucrats on the line. The scenes are gut-wrenching as we hear Hind Rajab’s small voice describing the terror around her but also calm as the volunteers try to reassure her that help is coming. But, alas, it never comes. The movie was honored with a nomination for the Best International Academy Award. I recall one other movie with a similar setup, limiting the action to a call center with voices on the phone, that being The Guilty, in 2018. That one though was entirely fictional, but still equally dramatic. I recommend The Voice of Hind Rajab if you are up for something this intense.

Sirat

Sirat       4 ½ stars

At the opening of Sirat we see the words on the screen telling us that Sirat is the path between heaven and hell and that it is narrower than a strand of hair and sharper than a sword. These words serve as a warning for what the viewer is in for. Sirat, by Spanish film director Oliver Laxe, is the most slow-burning and harrowing film I have seen in a long time. As it progresses it becomes a test of endurance for the movie goer. The movie starts with hands building a large stack of speakers somewhere in the desert. Eventually, they are in place and the music starts. The sound we hear is that of loud rave music with a steady beat and non-melodic sound with over a hundred people seen dancing. They are some where in the Moroccan desert next to a mountain range. Luiz (Sergi López), a middle-aged Spanish man is wandering through the crowd with his young son, Estaban and their dog, showing a photo of his daughter to people asking if they have seen her. His daughter has been missing for months, and she was known to frequent these illegal rave events. Then a truck carrying armed soldiers appears, stopping the event and forcing the dancers to leave. As the crowd starts to drive away, a quintet of rave followers who are part of the crew drives off on their own path and Luiz decides to follow them in the hope that he may learn of the whereabouts of his daughter. There is another rave to be held in the desert in a few days, and they intend to get there driving through the desert. (They are driving a large truck and an RV, but Luiz and his son are in a mini-van that is not equipped for the rough roads.) We hear radio reports making vague references to there being a state of war. Later, they see troop convoys making their way through the desert. This movie is not about the search for a missing daughter, but something much more ominous and existential. Initially, it may look like a road trip movie, but it isn’t Thelma and Louise or even Mad Max. These travelers find themselves in one of the most isolated and unforgiving places imaginable. It is a place practically devoid of human or animal life. The mood of the film changes to something more ominous and is aided by a loud and hypnotic sounding score like nothing I have heard before. There are long stretches of the film showing the voyagers driving through the plains and on dangerous mountain roads with quiet rest stops along the way. As they make progress one gets the feeling of dread and heightened tension while wondering where the film is going. Then the sudden shock comes at the most unexpected time leaving the viewer completely stunned. The film may be described as an obscure arthouse film, but it is absolutely devastating and will not be forgotten. Besides López, all the cast are non-professionals who Laxe found among actual rave goers as he has followed the rave scene for the last six years. Thus, the actors are very authentic. Sirat is nominated for Academy Awards in the Best International Feature and Best Sound categories and is deserving in both categories. Of the nominated foreign films I have seen, I find only The Secret Agent to possibly be superior to this extraordinary film. You are warned though that this one is not for everyone.

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain                      5 stars

The animated film Little Amélie or the Character of Rain co-directed by Mailys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han is short and simply drawn but presents a complex story of self-realization by a toddler. It is based on the writings of Amélie Northomb about her own life growing up in Japan. The story is set in 1970’s Japan where a Western family is living with their three children. The father is a Belgian diplomat. Amélie is the baby and is completely noncommunicative with the family, but she has a wild imagination as described by the narrator. She sees herself as God but is set apart from humanity. Or she sees herself as a tube, something that food passes through without changing. It isn’t until she is two and a half years old when her grandmother from Belgium visits and gives her some chocolate that she finally connects with the family and can immediately speak in complete sentences. (Her first word is vacuum cleaner.) She likes their Japanese housekeeper, Nishio-san the most, who introduces her to Japanese customs and the idea that Amélie’s name means rain. She becomes fascinated by rain and sea creatures, something that leads to a dangerous situation when she wanders off on her own. Even though Amélie is a Westerner, she sees herself as Japanese preferring the company of Nishio-san over her own family. Later though, she learns of the suffering caused by the war and the resentment of the Japanese landowner toward white people, but she is incapable of understanding such complex issues. The animation is done with few colors and without defined lines, preferring a fuzzy look in a minimalist style. The movie gives us some idea of how a toddler might see the world around them, doing all this in only 78 minutes. The movie is up for the Best Animated Feature Academy Award.

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Avatar: Fire and Ash        3 stars

As incredible as it sounds it has now been seventeen years since James Cameron brought us Avatar, his spectacular CGI-3D movie about the blue-skinned inhabitants of a distant planet called Pandora and the efforts of humans to dominate and exploit it for its natural resources. The humans developed a technology that allowed them to blend in with the alien race in copies of their bodies. Then in 2022, came Avatar: The Way of Water, which followed a family of the Na’vi race who flee from their own tribe and come to live with the Metkayina, another tribe that has a close relationship with the sea and the creatures that dwell there. Both movies were noted for their colorful and overwhelming special effects using body capture technology and their tales of exploitation of native cultures by a technologically superior race in the search for valuable resources (an indictment of corporate greed). Cameron’s latest incarnation, Avatar: Fire and Ash continues the story, with most of the same characters and the same astounding special effects of the first two films. We follow Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), the fearless Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and their family through family drama, their dealings with their Metkayina hosts, adventures with some incredible animal inhabitants and the inevitable conflict with their human pursuers, who seem to never learn from their past experiences. Meanwhile, Jake’s enemy, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), has not given up on tracking down Jake, who he regards as a traitor for “going native”. (You may remember that Jake and Quaritch were both humans who now inhabit Na’vi bodies, able to breathe the air of Pandora that is toxic to humans.) The movie feels like it has little to add to the story, featuring much of the same conflicts and action that we’ve seen before despite its three and a quarter hour running time. One very notable addition though is the villain, Varang, who leads her tribe, the Mangkwan, who prey on the vulnerabilities of other Na’vi tribes and steal whatever things of value they can find. Varang is ruthless and smart as well, able to adapt to new situations. It doesn’t take long for her to see the value in allying herself with the vengeful Quaritch. Oona Chaplin is perfect for the role of this native leader. (Chaplin is the granddaughter of the legendary Charlie Chaplin.) Overall, this third iteration seems like more of the same including the relentless greed of the humans and the spirituality of the native Na’vi. Of course, the movie did not need to be nearly this long. The word is that James Cameron is planning on two more movies in this series (each probably over three hours). I feel that the story has been played out and it is time to move on to something else. We will see if he follows through on this plan.
 

The Secret Agent

The Secret Agent             5 stars

A favorite genre of mine is the political thriller and if you share this feeling, you should not miss Kleber Mendonca Filho’s extraordinary movie The Secret Agent. The setting is 1977 southern Brazil, a time of extreme authoritarianism and oppression that feels appropriate for today. Early on we meet Marcelo (Wagner Moura of Civil War and Dope Thief) who is driving a bright yellow VW Beetle through desolate country and stops at an isolated gas station to buy gas. There is a dead body that has been lying on the ground for days with the attendant explaining that he tried to rob the place and got what he deserved. They are still waiting for the police, but the police have their hands full as Carnivale is in full swing. (It is mentioned that there have been 91 deaths reported during Carnivale so far.) When police car does show up, they are only interested in trying to shake down Marcelo for some cash. This movie packs a lot in its 2-hour, 41-minute runtime. There are corrupt cops that engage in killings and disposal of bodies (and body parts), a loose knit organization that protects people in trouble by hiding them and giving them new identities, discoveries of body parts inside the stomachs of sharks, a corrupt businessman who will let no one stand in the way of his greed, a pair of professional hitmen and a mysterious dismembered “hairy leg” that attacks people in a park. What I really like about the movie is the way the story is told. The characters are introduced slowly, and we don’t get much background to start with. Marcelo finds a room to stay, in a house belonging to an old woman who seems to have a lot of connections. He has a young son who is staying with the boy’s grandparents. Other characters are introduced, such as the corrupt police chief, but we don’t know how they are related to Marcelo. Eventually, we learn more using flashbacks and learn that Marcelo was a researcher at a company with government funding. The pacing starts out very slowly, but builds as the characters are developed and the relationships become clearer. Finally, the tension rises to a fever pitch as the paths of the characters finally cross. But that is not enough. The director has added scenes at the end that take place decades later that deliver the message that time does not heal all wounds. This is the way a good thriller is supposed to be made. A nice tough is seeing how communication was done in the age before cell phones and the internet. Everything was land lines and telegrams. There is little doubt about why The Secret Agent was nominated for the Best Picture, Best Actor, Casting and Best International Feature Film Academy Awards this year. Filho has made many other well received films, but as they are from Brazil, I have not heard about them before. He is getting some major recognition this year.

No Other Choice

No Other Choice               3 stars

Man-su is the kind of man who has it all.  A good paying job, a beautiful wife, a house in the suburbs and two children.  He is a successful middle manager in a Korean paper company and a past Pulp Man of the Year.  But suddenly an American company has bought out the company and that can only mean job cuts. Man-su finds himself out of a job and after a year of searching still has not landed a new one forcing spending cuts at home. What can a man do except kill the competition for what openings there are in his industry? This is the premise of Park Chan-wook’s comedy drama No Other Choice.  It seems I don’t see things the same as most of the critics as I didn’t appreciate the change in style going from serious drama to slapstick comedy.  There was too much of a change in tone that bothered me.  Man-su (played by Lee Byung hun of Squid Games) takes out fake job ads for a paper company to find the best candidates so he can find them and murder them.  Then he will be the most qualified man remaining.  The problem is that Man-su is really bad at killing, often getting mixed up in the victim’s lives. Then he bumbles his way through each situation. The movie is a long way from being plausible, but apparently that is what Park has in mind.  I wasn’t buying it, which ultimately made the movie less interesting for me. It doesn’t get my vote for Best Foreign Film Academy Award.

Zootopia 2

Zootopia 2           5 stars

Do you remember following the adventures of Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) as these two adventurers fought to solve crimes in the animal city of Zootopia? Well, they are back officially working together as partners on the police department in the Disney movie Zootopia 2. This time they really messed things up causing multiple mishaps and property damage, resulting in them being referred for remedial training for mismatched partners. In this colorful city where all species of land animals coexist, regardless of predator/prey statis or habitat, there are many amusing popular culture references to notice if you are watching close enough. They have streaming platforms like EweTube and HuluZoo. I saw references to Mulholland Drive, The Shining and Silence of the Lambs. I am sure if you look closer there will be a few more that I missed. In this film we learn of the origins of Zootopia as they are getting ready to celebrate the city’s centennial. Decades earlier the Weather Walls were designed by an ancestor of the Lynx family that made the city of animals possible. Only, all reptiles were excluded since they were regarded as enemies of the other animals and were not to be trusted, so they survive on the outskirts of the city. But at the city celebration Hopps and Wilde make acquaintance with Gary (Ke Huy Quan of Everything Everywhere All at Once), a snake who is out to clear his family’s name. Gary claims that it was his ancestor that created the Weather Walls and it was the Lynx family that stole it from the snakes. Hopps and Wilde are all too willing to accept his story and are off on a new quest to find out the truth. The charming thing about the movie is the way that Hopps and Wilde interact with one another. Hopps is very enthusiastic about the case, and Wilde is interested in his own safety but must go along with Hopps to keep her out of trouble. There is a certain amount of sexual tension between these male and female characters that reminded me a lot of Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago on my favorite cop show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. (It’s interesting that Andy Samberg is in the cast but here he is Pawbert, one of the Lynx family.) Just like in Zootopia, there is a wide variety of amusing characters, including Dr. Fuzby (Quinta Brunson), Police Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) and a politician named Brian Winddancer (Patrick Warburton). There is even an appearance by the slow moving three toed sloth, Flash Slothmore, one of the favorites from the first movie. Zootopia 2 is fun for all ages and in Disney fashion, teaches a lesson of acceptance of others despite our differences. I look for Zootopia 2 to be nominated for the Best Animated Feature Academy Award and possibly win just like the original. Let me know if you have noticed more pop culture references in the movie.

KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters                     4 ½ stars

I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about for the Netflix animated movie KPop Demon Hunters, so I viewed it months after it was in theaters and viewed by record crowds. I know very little about KPop, having some awareness of BTS but that is about it. The movie is very colorful and action packed, following a very popular female musical trio called Huntrix, voiced by Arden Cho, Ji-young Yoo and May Hong. The story is rather light with the premise being that there are demons trying to get into the souls of music fans by means of capturing them with popular tunes. Huntrix can resist the threat with their own popular tunes as long as they can write and perform the best songs for their fans. The problem for them happens when the main demon character comes up with a scheme to defeat Huntrix by enlisting a boy band that challenges them to a competition to become more popular with their fans. At least that is what I took from it. The real entertainment comes from the very catchy and upbeat tunes in the movie. These include their top hit, Golden. (I kept hearing it in my head for days afterward.) So, if you are ready for some rather mindless entertainment, you should see it. Then you can understand what all the kids are excited about. I understand that it broke the box office record for animated movies. And it is sure to receive an Academy Award nomination for Animated Film and probably will win.

It Was Just an Accident

It Was Just an Accident                  4 stars

It Was Just an Accident, by the noted Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi is a revenge movie but is deeper than that as it questions the cost of revenge. I have never seen any of Panahi’s other films, but I understand that he has many productions to his name and is well regarded. A minor accident at the beginning of the film sets in motion a series of events that will have a lasting effect on the lives of several persons that were held captive in a notorious prison run by the oppressive Iranian government. Vahid is a mechanic who one day hears the sounds of a customer in his shop who is being served by his partner. He thinks he recognizes the customer’s limp as the prison guard who tormented him using “enhanced interrogations” while he was being held in prison years earlier. The man is Rashid, a man with a family, who walks with a limp because he has an artificial limb. Vahid schemes to find Rashid’s home, follow him and kidnap him, then sets about trying to bury him alive in the desert. But Vahid’s problem is he can’t be absolutely sure he has the right man since he was always kept blindfolded while in prison. So, he sets out to find other people who were also held prisoner and tortured by the same guard, bringing them all together to identify Rachid and confront their own past nightmares. They have heated arguments about the situation discussing whether to let him go or execute him. Things get even more complicated for them when they find out that Rachid has a wife who is in desperate need of medical aid and they must help her and the couple’s daughter. They find that given the chance for revenge, the cost to their being and sanity may not be worth any satisfaction they may receive. The ending is very powerful and not what I expected. Jafar Panahi was himself held prisoner by the authoritarian regime and was prohibited from making more films, but he hasn’t let that stop him. You can understand why the Iranian government doesn’t want him to express his views. He made this movie without the knowledge of the government using amateur actors and what could be termed as low production techniques, filming it all in Iran. Nevertheless, he has produced a powerful film, one that achieved critical success and won awards at the Cannes Film Festival last year. I was lucky enough to find it in the theater where I saw the full effect of the drama. Don’t be surprised to see it mentioned in the Academy Award nominations in a few weeks. It happens to be the official Academy Award foreign film submission from France.

Marty Supreme

Marty Supreme                 5 stars

It’s hard to describe Josh Safdie’s new film, Marty Supreme, which recently opened in theaters. You could say it’s a sports movie about a young man’s path to greatness in the world of table tennis, but that would be completely inadequate. The director of Good Time and Uncut Gems has created something unlike anything I have seen before. Marty Supreme is a manic, unhinged joy ride where one wonders what will happen next to top the previous scene. Timothée Chalamet has played a sociopath, a musical genius, a chocolatier, a messiah figure and a cannibal. So why shouldn’t he be a self-absorbed con man who thinks of himself as the greatest thing ever to hit table tennis? Marty Mauser is a very good shoe salesman who also happens to be an incredible table tennis player in 1952 New York and wants to go to the world championships in London to prove it, if only he can get the money to get there even if that means stealing from his boss. Once there he nearly succeeds, but meets his nemesis, a young Japanese player from Tokyo who defeats Marty in the final, thus depriving Marty of the title and all the winnings. (Along the way he makes acquaintance with Kate Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow of Shakespeare in Love), a movie star past her prime, who he also finds ways to con into his plans.) For the rest of the movie, Marty’s singular focus is to get back to the championship the next year and win the title, and he will do whatever it takes to get there. Since he has no money, he will literally beg, borrow and steal (mostly steal) to get the funds that he needs to claim what should be his. Marty’s other talent is his ability to talk his way through any situation he finds himself in. And he is not above involving his friends or even his pregnant girlfriend (Odessa A’zion (I Love LA)) in his various schemes, whether it’s hustling unsuspecting schmucks at a bowling alley or ransoming money from a rich, hardened gangster (director Abel Ferrara) by holding his prized dog. There is some top-notch talent involved in the making of this movie as we can see from the amazingly realistic sets and the fast-paced action. The supporting cast of mostly unknown actors portraying aging characters populating New York make it appear very authentic. But the film really belongs to Chalamet who is essentially in every scene portraying the young man with unlimited confidence who is determined to get his way, no matter who he hurts. This looks like one of his greatest roles yet. You should not miss it. I look forward to whatever is in store for him next.