Fresh Fork

  wards season is ready to start and distributors are already lining their contenders. After the indie Winter & Spring and a lackluster Summer seasonl, it seems there aren't many contenders that had their releases outside of a film festival this year. Sure Thanksgiving and Christmas season always have a word to say concerning the Oscar potential of more commercial cinematic ventures, but I consider the biggest players have already screened in Cannes, Venice, Telluride and TIFF.  To understand the Oscar game, we have to have some points in mind: #1 - it kinda plays like a presidential election in the way your party (AKA distributor) needs to champion the movie and land a FYC campaign; #2 - Best Picture nominees are chosen through a preferential balloting system, which means the love towards a movie plays a big part in the game while not liking the movie does not (you can't "unvote" a movie or block the AMPAS members of picking it);  #3 - the first critics' awar...

  enre:  Horror; Drama; Comedy Director:  Coralie Fargeat Writer:  Coralie Fargeat Starring:  Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley  and  Dennis Quaid As a non-fan of horror flicks, I consider 2024 to be one of the most interesting years for the genre. For me,  The Substance  represents the genre peaking both in its style and in its utility: a movie that's both spellbiding but also makes you look away from its visual narrative; and a movie that comments society's obsession with beauty and perfection but also mocks it and offers a view of the ugly side of the coin. For its style and substance,  The Substance  might well be one of the most daring, smart and interesting movies I've seen in years! The movie starts with the star of Elizabeth Sparkle in Hollywood Walk of Fame, from its very beginning and going through time, losing interest from those who pass by, starting to crack and being covered in ketchup. It all plays like a brief summary of...

  WISTERS It's not original... I mean, we have seen this film before... but  Twisters  puts a lot of effort in character development and in the search of the movie's heart, which it ultimately finds in Daisy Edgar-Jones. Glen Powell steals the scene with his movie star charisma for sure, but the movie belongs to the female lead: she can do both the acting and exude the leading lady quality in a way that reminds me of a young Julia Roberts here. I liked the approach Lee Isaac Chung had with the material, pulling sensibility from a script full of clichè blockbuster lines and scenes. The visual effects are outstanding. An entertaining entry for the disaster movie catalogue that never amazes me, but it's good enough to never be bad no matter what. Not a force of nature but a windy cinematic moment. RATING: 5,5/10 TRAP It really traps the audience in almost 2 hours of a manhunt that feels sterile thanks to an unsensitive approach that doesn't allow you to feel sympathy for i...

  Genre:  Romance; Comedy. Director:  Greg Berlanti Writer:  Rose Gilroy Starring:  Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Ray Romano, Anna Garcia, Jim Rash  and  Woody Harrelson The rom-com genre isn't properly alive these days, specially during Summer season considering the amount of sci-fi/adventure, squels, animated and super-hero movies that usually get released at this time of the year, but Fly Me to the Moon cracks the blockbuster-busy schedule at movie theatres. But  Fly Me to the Moon  is movie with a big production budget that was meant to streaming service, but... is it any good? The answer is: yes, it is very good and I am glad Apple decided to give it a theatrical run! It's pure entertainment, elevated by an interesting premise and graced by a charismatic performance by Scarlett Johansson. The movie starts with the ups and downs (mostly the downs) of the Apollo 11 pre-mission in the aftermath of a series of unsuccessful previous ate...

he nominations for the Academy Awards 2024 were announced last Tuesday (January 23th) and while  Oppenheimer  leads as the most nominated movie of the year, there were a few shocking misses and some welcome inclusions.  In fact, last Tuesday's announcement came with a couple of surprises: no Greta Gerwig in Best Director for  Barbie  (something I had always predicted, but the internet wasn't ready for ),  Killers of the Flower Moon  missing Best Adapted Screenplay, but  The Zone of Interest  gets nominated there; two international films in the Best Picture lineup ( Anatomy of a Fall  and  The Zone of Interest ); John Williams got nominated for his score for the latest installment of  Indiana Jones  (like... REALLY?); Napoleon gets nominated in 3 craft categories;  Past Lives  makes the Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, but somehow misses Best Actress for Greta Lee...; No  Saltburn , no  Asteroi...

  FANCY DANCE Director Erica Tremblay crafts a very sensitive drama about family, sense of community, cultural identity and social through the lens of the individual lives of her two leads. It's an indie drama with heart and soul that achieves greatness thanks to Isabel Deroy-Olson and (specially) Lily Gladstone's performances. Cinematically good considering the character development and the sensibility the director displayed by approaching some very delicate moments and key scenes, which shows an eye for both narrative storytelling and creating empathy with the audience. It's also as socially relevant as it is heartbreaking, which is why  Fancy Dance  is such a special cinematic little gem. RATING: 8,5 / 10 LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL It was simply not my cup of tea! David Dastmalchian shines in the title role of a TV host with some dark secrets (which is both fascinating and deserving for him to finally step as a leading man in a major movie) and the movie's concept ...

  enre: Comedy; Action; Romance. Director: Richard Linklater Writers: Richard Linklater & Glen Powell Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio & Retta Audiences who go watch it expecting a grand cinematic experience might feel it as a bit of a letdown, but if they're open to embrace  Hit Man 's small scaled filmmaking with a spicy (and quite funny) touch, then they will have one of the most rewarding time at the movies of the last couple of years.  Hit Man  is a delicious film, not perfect, but quite audience-friendly. It's pretty mainstream, but it's pretty good also! Richard Linklater is better known for audience-friendly movies like  Dazed and Confused  (1993) or  School of Rock  (2003), but also for some quite prestigious titles like the  Before  trilogy,  Tape  (2001) or  Boyhood  (2014). With  Hit Man , Linklater seems to find the perfect combo between his two "categories" of works of his ...