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Film reviews

Anora Review

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Champion of the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Anorais an absolute wonder of a film that surpasses expectations. Written and directed by Sean Baker, Anora is his best film yet and is unconventional in the way it combines comedy, drama, and romantic genres. The writing is vivid, and the story leaves audiences breathless. This is the romantic comedy masterpiece the world needs. It displays how young love includes many moments to cherish while also navigating obstacles when things do not go as planned. The setting in both New York and Las Vegas provides a grandeur of adventure that spirals in an exhilarating light. These two cities never sleep and neither does Anora.

Baker’s Anora brings audiences into a strip club setting where they are introduced to Ani (played by Mikey Madison), a young escort in Brooklyn working many shifts and doing extra deeds to make ends meet. She has a kind-hearted attitude and presents a playful face that draws the attention of men. Out of the blue, a young stud named Ivan comes into her club (played by Mark Eidelstein). Ivan falls in love with Ani at first sight. He has many sessions with her and pays her well. He brings her into his castle-like home. They have so much fun together are inseparable. Ani and Ivan have incredible chemistry which is what makes Anora so riveting). Their love story goes from Ivan having many sessions with Ani, to them falling in love, and then Ivan proposing to Ani. Once they get married, the film shifts to a conflict over an issue that tests where Ani and Ivan stand with each other.

The moving parts in Anora have deep layers that are mind-boggling and engrossing. Emotions are heightened as the plot is exposed. The surprise is that Ivan is the son of a Russian Oligarch and comes from a family of wealth and power. His rich boy life is all because of his family, and they are distraught by the fact that Ivan has married a prostitute. When the news breaks, the fight for love truly begins. Soon, Ani is caught up with the authorities in Ivan’s family who wish for their marriage to be annulled. This is where the performances of Madison and Eidelstein get emotional, suspenseful, and even funny. With their marriage happening in Las Vegas, this creates a turmoil around whether their marriage is meant to be. The writing involving these circumstances and stressors makes the film more appealing despite the amount of added anxiety.

Love makes for a dazzling portrait, and it is painted with many layers in Anora. The life of two star-crossed lovers finding each other unconventionally creates an unforgettable landscape where happiness thrives audaciously in early parts of the film. When the dynamics of the family come into play, the emotions make audience repeatedly jump out of their seats.

Young love is true and surreal in Anora. Madison’s performance is a force of determination that fuels the hopes for lasting love. When their love story seems to be falling apart, her sensational acting will cause viewers to shed tears. Anora is a wild and breathtaking flick that is full of romantic vibes that lead to self-reflection about life and love. Mesmerizing and surreal, Anora is a knockout. Four out of four stars.

Film reviews

Seeking Mavis Beacon Review

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Seeking Mavis Beacon is unique in its exploration of technology. Written and directed by Jazmin Jones, the era of advancement (with technological moving parts) creates a pattern of appreciation—a fictional character for software aspiration. Seeking Mavis Beacon travels to the days when people found fascination in the software itself. The film tends to lack an invigorating component in its writing. It does an excellent job searching for the pieces of the development of Mavis Beacon. It just tends to be a sleeper.

The film presents Jones (herself) as the leader in finding the story of her project. She interviews people about the characterizations of Mavis Beacon. She searches for the ones who developed the fictional character and the software. As she navigates this journey, she realizes there is a background to how Mavis Beacon felt like a human being. Mavis Beacon has the technicality around the fictional character inspired by a legit person. That person is Renee L’Esperance. She was a model who was with part of Saks Fifth Avenue.

There is soul-searching that has value. The theories are in limbo. It brings in a lot of first-person focus before establishing its presence. The writing tried to capture more of the patterns of the director’s process. That is not a lacking element. The reality behind what the film was going into did not offer much. There is confusing artistry (that does not tune into the plot of the documentary well). It does a surreal job with interviews of individuals. The transitions of focus are not so fulfilling in Seeking Mavis Beacon. It is a documentary of a rushed quality.

There is a fascination for discreetness in Seeking Mavis Beacon. With the pros and cons of finding the beneficial sides (from a fictional character), the layers of fascination struggle to evolve. Seeking Mavis Beacon has invigorating aspects, but its fulfillment is dry. Seeking Mavis Beacon is a documentary where value feels incomplete.

To clarify, “value feels incomplete,” the details and interviews are diverse to many voices. The aspect of influence does not meet the eye. It is the software of a franchise where the appreciation vibes keep falling below the surface to keep its focus. It is not terrible. Seeking Mavis Beacon is complex to hold the attention of its audience. Two out of four stars.

Film reviews

LongLegs Review

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LongLegs will terrify its audience. LongLegs will make moments of horror flash simultaneously in the heads of its audience. Nicolas Cage is LongLegs. He plays a sadistic killer with a mental health disorder of many. His performance is stellar, surreal, and breathtaking. LongLegs is a cult of scary moving parts that made me ache in fear. I was mesmerized by what was making me scared with LongLegs.

As one who loves investigative movies and TV shows, LongLegs takes the direction of killings and clues to a level with context. With a secluded setting where roads have no destination to go for miles, there are murders to happen. Writer and director Oz Perkins uses imagery (in many moments) to heighten the scare factor of LongLegs. There are moments when it feels like a strobe light attack. The audience feeling an impact is the definition of monumental with LongLegs.

The time frame around this horror flick is the 1990s. Filming was around Canada, British Columbia, and the United States. Its main character (the one put up to face the evidence of LongLegs) is Agent Lee Harker (played by Maika Monroe). Lee absorbs her head into all the crime scenes assigned to her. Lee is persistent and mentally compelled to solve the murders that have been happening in unexplained patterns. Her assistant is Agent Carter (played by Blair Underwood). Carter is a tenure agent who is just working to get paid. Lee takes on the case much more than Carter.

Lee’s discoveries are the first portion of the sparkling world of a cult in LongLegs. With killings happening at different times, they leave the symbol with the name LongLegs listed. There is also the added layer of killings that have occurred with items from inside the victim’s homes. Many questions are for LongLegs. Why is he killing families in a pattern that is like a triangle? Why is he killing people with items that do not belong to him? What motivates him? Who is next on the list? Time is of the essence as events happen unpredictably. The events will chill its audience to the bone.

It is not only the tactic of Cage’s terror that makes LongLegs spellbinding. There is also the mental health of Monroe’s performance as the detective in the case. In her role as Lee, Lee has a mixed dynamic with her mother for various reasons. Her childhood troubles fuel her rage and persistence in solving the puzzle. Her mother is Ruth Harker (played by Alicia Witt). Ruth has moments that are uncomfortable in many sequences of LongLegs. It is along the lines of questioning based on her characteristics. Could her characteristics correlate to the troubles of the puzzle with the disturbances of LongLegs? There is a treat at every door, in every character, and in every aspect of this phenomenon from Perkins.

I was in fear with LongLegs. There is a moment when Lee is asked by her mother, “Do you still say your prayers?” With that question, I knew there was more than what I was getting into with LongLegs. I felt I was seeing ghosts. LongLegs is a knockout in its sequences to horrify. It is a trail of clues, events, and characteristics that keeps on its invigoration. It is one of the best horror flicks of 2024. My rating is four out of four stars for LongLegs.