Oscar 2025: Which Live-Action Short Will Take Home Gold?
As usual the five Oscar-nominated short films were a great mix of stories from around the world, each tackling compelling themes with unique styles. Read on to know which was my favourite and which one will most likely win. The first film, The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent by Nebojsa Slijepcevic, takes place in […]
Emilia Pérez: A French Director’s Daring Trans Musical in Spanish
Film Review by Julian Liurette, Toronto, January 28, 2025* I just re-watched Emilia Pérez, the latest film by French director and screenwriter Jacques Audiard, on Netflix—though I first saw it two months ago at the TIFF Lightbox in Toronto. Even then, I knew I had witnessed something unconventional: a musical about a notorious drug cartel […]
The film Nickel Boys: A Bold POV Experiment That Doesn’t Quite Hit the Mark
Nickel Boys is a film directed by RaMell Ross and adapted from the book by Colson Whitehead. The film tells its story visually and audibly through the perspective of its main characters, something reminiscent of Son of Saul which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2015. Advances in camera technology make such technical […]
2023 Oscar-nominated Live-Action Short-Films
This year, the five Oscar-nominated short films are cold weather oriented as they take place in northern areas of the world (Ivalu, Night Ride, An Irish Goodbye) or in winter (Le Pupille). The Disney/Alfonso Cúaron produced film which is also the longest of the selection takes places in Italy. It was cute but I think […]
Thoughts written in Spanish on Parallel Mothers, Almodóvar’s latest uneven but thought provoking film
Mis reflexiones después de haber visto la nueva película de Pedro Almodóvar, Madres Paralelas. Como gran parte de las películas de Pedro Almodóvar, la historia de Madres Paralelas sucede en el presente y en la ciudad de predilección del director donde él vive, Madrid. No es su mejor película, pero como todas sus películas es […]
Two amazing films for different reasons
Minari (2020) – Un amour impossible (2018) A few weeks ago, I had the delight of watching Minari. I had wanted to see it ever since it came out earlier this year and finally took the time to do it. It was such a touching film from beginning to end. It starts slowly and gradually […]
“Promising young woman,” powerful #metoo film
Carey Mulligan stars in this dark comedy/thriller which takes place nowadays in Ohio’s suburbia. It’s difficult to categorize the film’s genre. It’s dark, it’s occasionally funny, it’s romantic, it’s mysterious, it’s several genres at once but it works and the story unfolds for the most part in unpredictable ways. Carey Mulligan plays Cassie, a 30 […]
Nomadland – The modern road movie, critical of the system
France McDormand plays the lead character and also produced this movie directed by Chloé Zhao. Although I had never heard of the director, I certainly had heard of McDormand who might win a third Oscar for her performance. McDormand carries this beautifully shot film on her shoulders as she is in almost every shot. She […]
Covid Weekend Films: Il a déjà tes yeux, Victoria & Abdul, Election
October 23-25, 2020: French, British and American comedies On Friday night, we finished watching “Il a déjà tes yeux” or “He already has you eyes,” a French comedy about black parents who adopt a white baby. There are some heartwarming and funny moments, particularly the ones that involve the black grandmother discovering her grandson is […]
Love, Scott – Film review
Last night, my partner and I watched a 75 minute long documentary produced by the National Film Board of Canada. (You can watch the whole film for free online by clicking here or the film is at the end of this review.) The film had its own gradual pace, featured lots of subjective blurred images […]