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My first introduction to IMAX 70mm film was back in the summer of 2017; I went to see Dunkirk at the IMAX theater in Providence, one of only 30 in the world capable of projecting this premium film format. I probably hadn’t seen a film projected on film *at all* since the practice was phased out for more reliable (if less dynamic) digital projectors about a decade earlier, and I had grown dubious of the fetishization and idolization of “film,” a pervasive fixation of “film bros” at Tisch. But this was different - the colors were rich, the clarity outshined the best 4K televisions, and the intensity of the sound was matched only by a screen six stories tall, well beyond my peripherals. Easily Nolan’s most visual film, Dunkirk proved to be an incredible demonstration of this format’s power and cinema’s potential. I quickly became a film evangelist, particularly for IMAX 70mm, its expanded aspect ratio, arguably vertical in nature, stretching into the heavens. To my mind, every film should be made this way, yet many disagreed, citing the format’s strength as a weakness: it’s great for big movies, but it wouldn’t work for smaller stories. This perspective feels terribly shortsighted; the texture of the human face, framed with portraiture proportions, blown up to over 75 feet tall, produces a level of uncanny intimacy. That being said, Dunkirk, a high octane battle for survival, wasn’t the best showcase for this theory (and I didn’t see Nolan’s Tenet in theaters due to the pandemic). But finally, six years later, I’ve been vindicated by Oppenheimer, a three-hour interpersonal-political-thriller-epic-tragedy that prioritizes the humanity at the heart of history - to great success.

Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan, 2023)

Review originally published on July 28th, 2023.

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Read these reviews as they come out at CineMancuso!

It seems that every year, a well-liked film inevitably fails to justify in my eyes its critical acclaim. Barring any dark horse contenders, Saltburn appears to be this year’s victor. To be sure, Emerald Fennell is a competent director - her latest film is technically well-made with visually rich mise-en-scène and compelling camerawork. But after all of the strange narrative machinations, which seek to build mystery and intrigue yet fall short in doing so, the resulting experience doesn’t add up to much. Fennell is unable to thread the needle, breaching the line between genius and pretension. Thematically vapid, the film is a deceptively complex exploration of wealth and desire. There are some interesting ideas to explore here, namely with the film’s protagonist Oliver, played wonderfully by Barry Keoghan despite uneven material. Oliver represents the insatiable demands of capitalism, striving toward infinite growth; he is already upper-class yet feels inferior to the exorbitant wealth of his classmates. There’s intriguing commentary there, but Fennell appears preoccupied with the sensual rather than the philosophical. This is a shame, as the film’s status as a period piece of the mid-2000s could have enhanced and deepened such sociopolitical explorations. Fennell is clearly a talent, but this film just goes to show how impressive technical skill can be limited by poor scripting.

Saltburn (Emerald Fennell, 2023).

Review originally published on November 29th, 2023.

Read these reviews as they come out at CineMancuso!

The Alien franchise is one of those series that Hollywood just keeps trying to make happen; the original two critically acclaimed films were followed by two poorly received continuations, two ambitious (if underwhelming) prequels, and two crossover films with Predator. As a result, audiences have been getting xenomorph stories on and off for almost fifty years, and the franchise’s thematic and stylistic ambitions are as varied as the films’ quality. Even original director Ridley Scott’s return to the franchise with Prometheus, an attempt to manifest an overarching narrative for the series, merely muddied the waters even further, and its sequel Alien: Covenant, while leagues ahead of its predecessor, stayed the course. With all of this in mind, my general sentiment leaned towards apathy; perhaps James Cameron’s Aliens was a fluke, a rare sequel that completely reinvents the source material to arrive at an equally satisfying experience, and that this world and these characters required no follow up, no further exploration. I thought that this concept had been fully excavated for all that it was worth…and then came Alien: Romulus, a film so utterly divorced from the specific plot machinations of a larger universe that, with some retooling, could have been a complete reboot of the entire franchise. Surely, this was the aim of 20th Century Studios (read: Disney): to softly relaunch a valuable IP for a new audience. But beyond the film’s corporate mandate, Fede Álvarez manages to breathe new life into a world that had seemed all but extinct.

Alien: Romulus (Fede Álvarez, 2024)

Review originally published on September 10th, 2024.

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