Spaceman (2024)

Direction: Johan Renck
Country: USA

Adam Sandler takes on the role of a solitary Czech astronaut in Spaceman, tasked with a research mission to the edge of the solar system to investigate a mysterious interstellar cloud. As he spends six months isolated in his ship, he becomes increasingly anxious about the possibility of his pregnant wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), leaving him. Amidst this emotional turmoil, he encounters an intelligent ancestral creature—a giant space spider—that helps him confront his selfishness and grapple with feelings of loneliness, guilt, and regret. 

Based on Jaroslav Kalfar's novel Spaceman of Bohemia, the film adaptation, helmed by Chernobyl’s director Johan Renck and written by Colby Day, fails to delve beyond the obvious, offering a forgettable space journey masquerading as a couple’s therapy. Despite attempting to create impact with an ambiguous open ending, the film ultimately falls short, missing the mark on its potential for depth and exploration.

One of the film’s most dispiriting aspects is the mediocre character development and absence of tension. Neither shaping as a real sci-fi adventure nor grounding itself in a compelling romantic drama, Spaceman falls into a middling territory, promising more than it deliveries. Its slow narrative pace, coupled with verbose sequences that prioritize cerebral musings over genuine insight, results in a film that struggles to maintain logical coherence and foster empathy. It’s a half-interesting, half-baked illustration weighed down by a listless melancholy that sedates more than inspires.

Dune: Part 2 (2024)

Direction: Denis Villeneuve
Country: USA

Clocking in at a substantial two hours and 46 minutes, the highly anticipated sequel to Dune proves to be a captivating and daring work that surpasses its predecessor. It stands as a pure marvel, leaving audiences speechless with cinematic qualities bound to linger long after the credits roll. 

Directed with ferocity by Denis Villeneuve, the film pushes the envelope with its gripping dark atmosphere, suspenseful hunts and ambushes, intricate rituals and prophecies, psychedelic imagery, and exhilarating fights set against magnificent backdrops. 

In this grandiose adaptation of Frank Herbert’s adventurous saga, Paul Atreides, portrayed with compelling depth by Timothée Chalamet, joins forces with the Fremen tribe, confirming his role as the prophesied leader they have been awaiting. His journey includes daunting challenges such as riding a giant sandworm - a scene described by the director as the most complex he has ever filmed - and facing off against the sadistic Baron Vladimir Hakkonen (Stellan Skarsgard) and his ambitious and ruthless nephew, Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler). Amidst these trials, Paul also finds love with the rebellious Fremen warrior Chani (Zendaya), but their relationship is threatened by the uncertain fate of the universe.

While the film boasts elaborate storytelling, it never veers into indulgence. The incorporation of abstraction amidst its dense layers adds depth, while still delivering all the impact one would expect from a breathtaking sci-fi adventure. Hans Zimmer’s ominous gothic score further heightens the intensity of each scene, contributing to the film’s overall strength.

Dune: Part 2 stands as the apotheosis of Villeneuve's directorial signature within the sci-fi genre - a tremendous display of full-throttle filmmaking that mesmerizes with its clever stylization, unwavering attention to detail, and grandiose visuals. Sit back, relax, and immerse yourself in this unmissable epic space opera.

The Animal Kingdom (2023)

Direction: Thomas Cailley
Country: France

French director Thomas Cailley, known for Love at First Fight (2014), directs and co-writes his sophomore feature, The Animal Kingdom, a hybrid sci-fi drama that balances pitch-perfect detail with a poignant sense of loss and restlessness. This Kafkaesque fable delves into themes of human-animal mutations, exclusion, and father-son relationships with tremendous ambition, resulting in a film that may strike some viewers as poetic while others may find it irrational and far-fetched.

The story follows François (Romain Duris) and his 16-year-old son, Emile (Paul Kircher), who have recently lost their wife and mother, respectively, due to an inexplicable phenomenon that gradually transforms humans into animals. Matters escalate when Emile begins to undergo the same transformation. The premise is imaginative and intriguingly uncanny, yet the execution maintains a palpable connection to reality. 

Cailley demonstrates audacity in both style and form, crafting a controlled staging that delves into themes of unethical discrimination and the mysterious ties between humanity and nature. The film serves as a metaphorically adjusted reflection of contemporary society, presenting a vital and sometimes violent friction between reality and fiction. The Oscar-caliber makeup used to portray the transformed characters, along with the spellbinding forests and landscapes of the Landes de Gascogne, contribute to a visually stunning experience.
While The Animal Kingdom may not achieve perfection in all its aspects, it carries feverish delicacy and magnetic charisma.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Direction: Takashi Yamazaki
Country: Japan

If you enjoy adventure films with a combination of intense action and dramatic flair, Godzilla Minus One might be the movie for you. Directed by Japanese filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki, the film offers a visceral and fast-paced fantasy with striking visuals and a strong sense of conviction. Yamazaki employs blockbuster tactics to depict multiple dangerous situations with a radioactive Godzilla wreaking havoc on a postwar Japan. 

The story revolves around Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a former kamikaze pilot turned deserter and sea-mine extractor. His lack of courage brings shame to many of his fellow countrymen. However, when he encounters Noriko Oishi and her rescued orphan baby, he discovers a new purpose in life. As Godzilla heads to Tokyo, Koichi sees an opportunity to redeem himself and prove his bravery and piloting skills.

The film explores strong anti-patriotic sentiments associated with the loss of war, mixed with a sense of unity among a group of civilians led by former naval weapons engineer and strategist Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka). Despite some plot holes and sentimental moments, Yamazaki enhances the film with stylized visuals, well-composed frames, and knockout sequences that blend ferocity with desolation. The director bends the rules of the genre by providing reinforced visual effects and relying on an intense musical score. While Godzilla's new roar is a result of a simple amplification of the original, the overall experience feels fresh and new.

Fingernails (2023)

Direction: Christos Nikou
Country: USA

Christos Nikou, known for his impactful directorial debut in Apples (2020) after working as an assistant director on notable films like Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth (2009) and Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight (2013), falls short with Fingernails. This low-stakes fiction attempts to blend sci-fi, romance, and drama but doesn't quite hit the mark. The central concept revolves around a machine determining one's true feelings for a partner, an idea that, while initially intriguing, comes off as rather silly. The film ends up breaking its own spell with repetition, totally missing the pounding pulse of truth.

The script centers on Anna (Jessie Buckley) and her husband, Ryan (Jeremy Allen White), who score a perfect 100% in their love test, yet their relationship appears to be dwindling. Doubt creeps in when Anna meets Amir (Riz Ahmed) at the love testing institute that she secretly started working for. Fingernails becomes a slow descent into torpor with not enough style or swagger to make it big. It feels like the work of a young director trying to impress without having fully formed ideas. 

Despite potential in the machine-versus-heart dynamic, the film falters, and even Jessie Buckley's charm can't salvage an underwritten story that yearns for more depth. Regrettably, the execution feels too slick and fabricated to convey authenticity, the romance comes across as feeble, and the emotions fail to reach the heart. Alas, I didn't buy a word of it.

Landscape With Invisible Hand (2023)

Direction: Cory Finley
Country: USA 

From Cory Finley - the director of Bad Education (2019) and Thoroughbreds (2017) - comes Landscape With Invisible Hand, an offbeat sci-fi romantic comedy drama with fitting social commentary but grappling with an uneven narrative pulse. The film, an adaptation of M.T. Anderson's novel of the same name, ventures down devious pathways, losing track of a potential cinematic provocation due to storytelling veering into self-indulgence and characters who often feel emotionally distant. It’s also visually restrained for a futuristic tale.

While the film doesn't falter on every level, boasting occasional successful black humor and delightful tensions between families, it generally lacks soul and struggles to connect with the theme of an alien seeking entertainment through teenage love. 

The director, concerned with charting trajectories of human subjugation and alien ascendancy, remains on the surface, weaving a crass hodgepodge of elements that don’t fully coalesce. However, respectable performances by Asante Blackk, Kylie Rogers, and Tiffany Haddish were a positive surprise, and that paid off in places.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Direction: James Cameron
Country: USA

Avatar: the Way of Water, the sequel to Avatar (2009) and the second installment of a series of five, was again co-written and directed by James Cameron (The Terminator, 1984; Titanic, 1997). The events in this episode occur more than a decade after the first story, and tells how Jake Sulli (Sam Worthington) and his united family work collectively to beat an eternal human rival, the recombinant Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). 

The film goes for a broader canvas - with a lot of technology - and adopts a Star Wars side that isn’t always favorable. Even with a strong dramatic center rooted in family, survival and environment, this is a blatant example where the visual spectacle (it can dazzle but also fatigue) swallows up an unexceptional story.

The sequel starts awfully, charged with artificial visuals and heavy content, but gains some tract along the way, becoming slightly more compelling when the action moves to the sea. This particularity offers Cameron a new playground and visual exploration from the point of view of colors, textures and fluidity of the scenes. The beautiful friendship between Jake’s younger son, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), and Payakan, an outcast Tulkun, brings the best moments to the screen. All the rest of it is more of the same in a tiresome film that suffers from an extended duration, repetitive messages, and clichéd dialogues.