Christopher Nolan has an eye for spectacle and an eye for scale, and he evokes worlds that are massive and almost always on the brink of destruction. With “Oppenheimer” ambitiously ventures in to a more personal film that is a lot about power and a world almost always on the brink of destruction thanks to man delving deep in to the power that they are capable of. Nolan trades spectacle for a more personal albeit just as intense dramatic thriller about “Father of the Atomic Bomb” J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist that invariably opened up a Pandora’s Box with his hand in the Manhattan Project.
Sympathy for The Devil (2023)
Director Yuval Adler’s “Sympathy for the Devil” is a movie for the Nicolas Cage fan base, those people that love to see Nicolas Cage go berserk and completely the chew the scenery for ninety minutes. It’s as if Yuval Adler went on set and told Nic Cage to just be Nic Cage, because out of all the Nic Cage performances in his repertoire this is the Nic Cagest you’ll see. He Nic Cage’s the hell out of this movie. “Sympathy for the Devil” is part horror movie, part survival thriller, part crime thriller and part mystery. It’s “Collateral” but on acid.
White Noise (2022) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]
Writer/Director Tamara Scherbak’s (with co-writer Christina Saliba) short indie thriller “White Noise” is a weird, and twisted film, and one that reminded me a lot of “Black Mirror” in the end. It’s a movie about madness and over stimulation that ends up driving a young woman to the brink of insanity. One of the things that I quite enjoyed about “White Noise” is that it plays on such an unusual element in anxiety.
Barbie (2023)
The idea of turning “Barbie” in to a feature film has been something Mattel has been grappling with for a very long time, and there was no other way to bring her to the big screen without turning her in to something of a meta comedy. Barbie is revered but also reviled for being beautiful, because with a lot of reasonable vitriol, Barbie has been considered a vapid unrealistic representation of beauty. “Barbie” seeks to confront a world that not only holds women to unrealistic standards, but also presents us with a Barbie whose own unrealistic standards are finally dawning on her. This forces her in to something of an existential crisis where she’s forced to look for the origin of her existence and how she can obtain that sense of perfection.
Stay Online (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]
Director Yeva Strielnikova’s “Stay Online” is literally a digital thriller for the modern age, and it’s never been more relevant a commentary on the importance of the internet than before. The digital thriller has become something of a niche sub-genre, and “Stay Online” practices that formula, but rather than a horror movie, implements the device as a means of exploring a modern war unfolding before our eyes. America has managed to stay embroiled in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia through various social outlets. One of the most important facets has been Tik Tok, which has dispensed unfiltered information before our eyes.
Lovely, Dark, and Deep (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]
According to David Paulides, the author of the Missing 411 books, he estimates that there are over 1,600 unexplained disappearances in North American National Parks. In “Lovely, Dark and Deep,” director Teresa Sutherland offers up one of the more complex and haunting supernatural thrillers of the year, all set within the confines of a national park. What makes “Lovely, Dark and Deep” so haunting is that director Sutherland sets the entirety of her film within a national forest, all of which seems so suffocating and all consuming from the moment character Lennon drives in to its threshold.
Fallen: The Search of a Broken Angel (2023)
I have to say I liked a lot of what director Alex Kruz brings to the table in terms of a film that’s very much about fate, and purpose, and existence. While “Fallen” can be tough to follow in its first few minutes, Kruz does manage to really catch the audience up. “Fallen” wears its influences on its sleeve, relying a lot on spirituality to punctuate what is in its core a tale about love and finding love.