![]() Set in Senegal’s capital Dakar, supernatural romantic drama Atlantics follows interweaving narratives-construction workers rail against not being paid to build a shining corporate tower above the impoverished city, and teenaged Ada prepares for her arranged marriage. Despairing, urgent, tragic, brutal-and a strong showcase of Gavras’ talents. ![]() Amid the growing chaos and violence as riot squads descend on the estate, three brothers of Algerian descent pursue conflicting, desperate strategies as they’re backed into various corners. As many have noted, the rest of this feature can’t quite live up to its audacious, opening sequence-a spectacular oner moving from French police press conference to violent protest and a housing estate entering a state of siege. While Harron’s film has no shortage of controversial content, her take demonstrates an understanding of Ellis’s novel as comedic social critique, and is an enduringly watchable one.įurious and frantic, Athena builds on director Romain Gavras’ previous work, most notably his music videos Stress for Justice and Bad Girls and Born Free for M.I.A. The pairing of Harron and Bale is vital to the sublime result, as opposed to the satire-free thriller that Lionsgate tried to make at one point, intended to star Leonardo DiCaprio with Oliver Stone directing. Every transgressive glance or loaded word lands a powerful blow as we take in perhaps the most appropriate erotic tale of the post-COVID era, one where two people drawn to each other exist in an anguished orbit of not touching, their affections quarantined.Īn unholy trinity comes together to produce filmmaking magnificence-Bret Easton Ellis’s notorious novel, a Christian Bale performance for the ages, and director/co-screenwriter Mary Harron’s take on the source material. 19th-century New York high society is the setting for this gripping tale of a young lawyer (Daniel Day-Lewis) who falls in love with a woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) scandalously separated from her husband-despite being engaged to her cousin (Winona Ryder)-all a delight to watch. Martin Scorsese’s period romance is a wonderfully crafted gut punch of simmering longing. Lady Gaga’s a revelation, Cooper a convincing music biz wreck, and even as this heads to an inevitable-feeling content-advisory-requiring ending, it’s hard to imagine not being invested in their tale. What makes this one work is the excellent chemistry of its leads, and the convincingly depicted musical world depicted here (you’d be hard-pressed to find another mainstream drama with such convincing live performances). You know the drill-one part whirlwind fairytale romance, one part wish-fulfilment fantasy, a potent brew that’s sustained multiple tellings of this story to date. ![]() It’s the gold standard by which all cinematic missions into space, interactions with artificial intelligence, and depictions of the future have been judged against ever since. The breakthrough film for Douglas Trumbull, who would go on to be revered as a special effects legend, 2001‘s effects remain incredibly impressive over fifty years later-and its influence on cinema since its 1968 release is impossible to understate (would Kurbrick have been chuffed by the start of Barbie? Probably!). Clarke’s science fiction masterpiece is both a stunningly real vision of the future, and a psychedelic explosion. We’ll update this post each month as films come and go from Netflix. Behold, Steve Newall has crafted the definitive list of the best films currently available to stream on Netflix NZ.
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