Review: "Dune: Part Two" is more History than Story

by Cláudio Alves

Denis Villeneuve's second Dune movie isn't a sequel, not quite. As the full title implies, it's part two of one madman's attempt at transcribing Frank Herbert's seminal space opera on the big screen. And so, it starts almost at the exact point the 2021 film ended, with Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides seeking refuge among the Fremen after his Great House was dilacerated in a violent coup. The body of Jamis, the man Paul killed in ritual duel, is still fresh and carried by Stilgar's tribesmen as they guide the princeling and his mother, Lady Jessica, to the underground warren of Sietch Tabr. A prophecy is at stake, and enemy troops aren't nearly as deadly as the dangers waiting for them in the planet-sized desert.

Dread is everywhere, overwhelming, sticking in the throat until it feels like you're already being suffocated by the film before its epic imagery can get a chance to crush you. Villeneuve has done it again…

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Mission Impossible: A Retrospective

by Cláudio Alves

Jumping from mountaintop into the silver screen, a death dive flight through alpine air, Tom Cruise crashes cinemas with another chapter in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Inspired by the hit 60s TV show, the movies have long ago severed whatever connection they might have had with their origin, transforming into what's best described as America's answer to the James Bond flicks. But that's a hollow description as  different directors have brought distinct visions, and Ethan Hunt has so constantly changed that he's more fluid idea than character.

For the star at the center of it all, the Mission: Impossible pictures have been a chance to experiment with how far the human body can go as a tool for action entertainment. Near suicidal in their fervor, these Cruise vehicles celebrate cinema at its most muscular and obstinately analog, a scream into the darkening sky that keeps the CG night at bay. For a cinephile intent on re-watching all the movies before watching Dead Reckoning - Part One, the movie series is an enticing study of shifting priorities and tones. So, here we go, from the Hollywood of 1996 to our present crisis against AI, reconsidered as a man's mission to save Humanity by killing the man-made God…

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Dune: Top 10 Best Costumes

by Cláudio Alves

Dune feels more like a period movie than a sci-fi extravaganza as fashioned by costume designers Jacqueline West and Bob Morgan. West, who studied Art History, has described the aesthetic she and Morgan conceived as "mod-ieval, looking to the past for the distant future." While the story takes us to a faraway tomorrow, the world doesn't look new. Instead, it feels ancient, used-up before we ever laid eyes on it, sand-blasted but not rotten like the Lynch movie. Stuck in feudalistic pageantry and a political system that squashes the individual under imperial rule, Dune is an anachronism expanded to the monumentality of a space opera. An incredibly ambitious project, the movie deserves applause for its scale and, indeed, its costumes. 

Even the most negligible extra in the background of scenes is splendidly dressed, their ensembles as thought-through as the hero costumes. With that in mind, I decided to highlight this sartorial glory by re-watching the flick ins search of its best looks, be they worn by movie stars or background actors. There's so much to admire…

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Horror Actressing: Rebecca Ferguson in "Doctor Sleep"

by Jason Adams

(As the year marches towards its conclusion we're using our weekly "Great Moments in Horror Actressing" series to take a look at the best of what the genre's given us in the past 12 months, actress-wise. Here's our latest fave 0f 2019.) It's an exciting time to watch Rebecca Ferguson on-screen -- you still get the feeling of discovery every time she shows up, like we haven't got an inkling still of what she's capable of tapping into. She's reminding me of Andrea Riseborough in that way...

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Review: Men in Black International

by Tony Ruggio

Jettisoning all subtext of the original and heart of the third and formerly final movie, Men in Black International is definitely a step-down from the highs of this intermittent, long-running franchise. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson don’t enjoy nearly the same chemistry that sparked in Thor Ragnarok, their personalities clashing in a way that can best be described as awkward, and not the good kind with bumbling and sexual tension in tow. It’s all so rushed and Thompson’s arc leaves something to be desired.

And yet, I couldn’t help smiling through half of it...

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