She wants to know what's in your pocket.

It’s been an amazing fall for movies so far and some of the biggest ones were released in the last couple weeks. Time to take a little break and look back at some of them:

Dune (Cinema)

by Denis Villeneuve with Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac and many many more

There are shoots in this movie…it’s insane! Just like the special effects..out if this world! It became rare these days that the CGI in big movies looks acceptable, but here, every single effect is close to perfection. While I believe that this is definitely close to being a masterpiece on the technical level, I needed some time story-wise. But the longer the movie went on, the more I was into it and at the end I definitely wanted more and I‘m also pretty sure that we will get more.

The biggest letdown is probably just the amount of the total unnecessary 3D screenings everywhere. Nevertheless, it was an outstanding experience seeing this on IMAX.

8.5 / 10

James Bond: No Time To Die (Cinema)

by Cary Joji Fukunaga with Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Rami Malek and more

What a pleasing film that didn‘t feel like 165 minutes at all. It‘s just think it‘s amazing that there‘s something like a Bond movie every few years that brings so many people of all ages to the cinema. Especially when the movie‘s good and well-made like this. I mean we all know the stories around this film and it’s production so I think it‘s even more remarkable how things turned out.

I don‘t know how many times I wrote this already this week about the movies I saw at the Zurich Film Festival but I guess it’s the year of the beautiful images because the cinematography in this is sooo good! I think sometimes we don‘t appreciate enough how well these bond movies are made these days: Editing, production design, effects, soumd directing, everything. So it comes as no surprise that I enjoyed the action set-pieces the most, the opening sequence alone or also the fight/shoot-out in the stairwell later on were simply brilliant. You just don’t see things like that executed so well in cinemas regularly. I also can‘t remember a movie that used fan service so cool like this one. There were so many references to other Bond movies and I was there for it. Some props to the screenwriters here, I think the story too, worked out pretty well overall to conclude the whole Daniel Craig movies, even if I’m still not sure what to think about the very end but I guess it’s fine.

The cast was not only high-stacked but also pretty good overall with standouts from Ana de Armas, Lashana Lynch and of course Daniel Craig himself. Time will tell but I think we’ll look back in a very positive way on this Craig-era, I mean Casino Royale and Skyfall belong to the best Bond movies ever. No Time To Die might not be quite up there but definitely belongs to the better bunch of the franchise and is unique in the way that it took some risks and did some things differently. A pretty satisfying end after 15 years.

7.5 / 10

Despite all the cool new movies, there was still some time to watch Titane twice. I also needed some time to process that one to be honest. That’s why I just wrote something after the second watch.

Titane (Cinema)

by Julia Ducournau with Agathe Rousselle and Vincent Lindon

I have to be honest, I was a little underwhelmed after the first time. Not that I didn’t like the movie or so but after Julia Ducournau’s outstanding feature debut Raw, the hype from the Palm d’Or win of Titane and all other opinions saying how bonkers Titane is, I was leaving the cinema a bit like: Well that was a nice movie but was it really that crazy? Of course, it is to some degree, but all these stories about people leaving cinemas in masses and stuff seem a bit overdramatized, same could be said about several other movies that come out in cinemas every year.

Maybe because my expectations were slightly different, the movie managed to keep my interest in the aftermath. So I did some research, listened to interviews with cast and director, read some more reviews and just tried to expand my views on the movie.

After some additional time of processing and reflecting (which usually takes a bit longer for me), I found some interesting approaches and a deeper understanding for what the movie may could go for. The combination of all of that and also knowing what’s coming made the second viewing not only a more relaxed one, but also changed the tone of the movie for me. For example my perception of the character of Vincent drastically changed for me now that I knew where the movie’s going. When you move away from the imagination that this is not just a batshit-crazy-bodyhorror movie but also a very humanly story about a variety of things and topics, it also works really well on some other levels.

While the movie itself, despite all my new findings, didn’t improve that much overall, it was nevertheless a good experience seeing this again on a big screen (where it also belongs). What also stood out to me this time is the confidence in the writing and directing. Julia Ducournau’s conviction in bringing her vision to life is visible in every single shoot of this, just like it already was in Raw. Every single directorial choice from the music to the way certain things are shown are not only exciting to experience but also 100% stylish.

And finally I have to say, for a late night screening of a movie I’ve seen before and with 2.5 hours of The Last Duel in my bones, this went by so quickly and was also the second time around a very delightful watch.

8.25 / 10

Yes, as you just read, I also saw:

The Last Duel (Cinema)

A well-made, brutal and surprisingly subtle movie that we’re dealing with here.

I‘m often a bit cynical or just distant when it comes to all these middle age, knights and nobility stuff. And while this also had 1-2 more amusing moments for me, I’ll remember this mostly for it‘s unique and smart storytelling. I really thought the script was the standout here, even if I thought it almost felt like a filmed plea at times, I appreciated that it felt so so contemporary and mostly unadorned when it comes to all the brutality and rawness

I also enjoyed the cast a lot. I came for Adam Driver and Jodie Comer but ended up liking pretty much everyone. That also includes Ben Affleck, I still don’t really get why people seem to have so many problems with him in this. Especially when Alex Lawther, the guy from the Netflix show The End of the F***king World plays the king here and has the comic-relief performance of the film, if you wanna call it like that

The duel itself reminded me a bit of Rocky movie. It looked great, but I also thought there were like 2-3 shoots that pushed the momentum a bit too far in one direction and made it also a bit too obvious how things will turn out. But hyper-criticism aside, I thought it was a worthy finale and I also think the movie leaves you with exactly the feeling you should have after this.

Maybe a little hot take to close here: I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this ends up being the better Ridley Scott movie this year. I’m also really looking forward to House of Gucci, but you never know what Ridley Scott has in store next, so we’ll have to wait and see.

7.5 / 10

And because there can be never enough Jodie Comer, especially if she finally also gets some movies roles after her Killing Eve series-success, I don’t want to leave this little but amazing TV-movie from the british Channel 4 unmentioned.

Help (Channel 4)

I guess this is it: The first Covid-related movie/series I’ve seen that is actually good, or in this case: Fantastic! It‘s also the first time that I feel like it wasn‘t made for sensation or the attention only but had a clear vision and a statement.

Shocking, thrilling and exhausting to watch with absolutely brilliant performances by Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham who almost can do nothing wrong whenever they‘re on screen.

From a filmmaking standpoint, the movie itself is also pretty effective executed, so that I can only hope that Channel 4 considers distributing this to other outlets abroad as well, so more people have the chance to see this.

Because even if this is mostly UK-related, it gives you a realistic(I suppose) insight into the precarious conditions in many healthcare facilities, especially during this pandemic.

It almost seems like all the applauding from the balcony last year didn’t help that much to change something and also didn’t solve any problems after all..

8.25 / 10

and to wrap things up, one of my favorite cinema experiences ever:

Oasis: Knebworth 1996 (Cinema)

All objectivity beside:This was out of this world for me and I loved every single minute of it.

I simply can not explain how these last two hours felt like. All these song do mean so much to me and I waited so long for this concert to get released somehow and with all the footage/audio that was available they really did the best they could, I think.

Even if I usually I prefer (concert) documentaries that focus on the music and the music only, I loved all the stories from fans who attended. They were not only lovely, entertaining and also a bit sad sometimes but also a reason why I think it connected so well with me since I share many similar concert experiences by myself even if this Knebworth shows definitely were something very special compared to the events we know these days. I would even say the fan‘s perspectives were even more interesting than some of the inputs from the band itself, especially since I will never get why you would do a voice-over over the music in a music film. They obviously also had to cut some songs short so they get a 2 hour-whatsoever runtime but under all these circumstances it still worked perfectly for me. I also liked all the looks behind the scenes including a cool little shout-out to The Prodigy that were on a peak themselves that time and apparently killed it as one of the supporting acts.

This movie really does a great job taking you 25 years back in time right to August 1996 and even if it sounds like a cliche: even somebody like me who was like 3 months old when the concerts happened got like a little impression how it felt to be actually there and the meaning/importance of these two shows.

But the biggest mystery remains unsolved because even Noel Gallagher couldn‘t answer it properly: It‘s incredible that they played two shows with just 2 albums out plus a lot of great B-Sides but they didn‘t play Rock N‘Roll Star on either of the two nights. Maybe a reason for a lower rating - No!

10 / 10