Last week – I had a chance to find a theater near enough to me to see Zone of Interest. And I categorically rewrote my favorite movie of the year ratings for 2023 as a result. It was that good. Definitely not for everyone – as a good friend of mine, movie fiend like all of us, proved to me. He wondered where the plot was. Hahaha. Can you say “textbook definition of missing the point”? So take my recommendation with a grain of salt. Never mind the fact that I’m not wrong! hahaha.
01.26.24 – THE PEASANTS – (THEATERS)
Each frame of The Peasants could be framed on your dining room wall. Using a technique that the film makers used for the movie Loving Vincent, the film was initially shot with actors, and then more than a hundred painters in four studios in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Serbia painted oil paintings based on the shots, which became key frames in the film. Animators then worked to tweak the key frames in order to make all of the paintings seamless. The artists spent over 200,000 hours in total working on the project.
01.26.24 – AMERICAN STAR – (THEATERS)
An assassin (Ian McShane) on final assignment arrives in Fuerteventura to kill a man he has never met. But when the target is delayed, instead of following protocol he stays; drawn to the island, the people, and a ghostly shipwreck. When the target returns, the world has shifted. Before everything was simple- now nothing is.
01.26.24 – WILL – (NETFLIX)
I watched, and reviewed Will a couple days ago. It is a brutal WWII watch that I cannot recommend enough. Possibly the only more pole-axing WWII movie (personally) would be Zone of Interest. But that is another topic for another day. Will really is an amazing watch as we try and decipher which impossible choice he will go with next. It’s pretty gut wrenching.
Previously on Spotlight Worth Watching Right Now:
ZONE OF INTEREST – Single best World War II movie? I’m still reeling.
EILEEN – Everything might not be quite what it seems with Eileen
BLUE EYE SAMURAI – literally cannot stop talking about this series…
PAST LIVES – low key, slow burn, dialog driven film. Basically Before Sunrise??
SALTBURN – Brilliant. Brilliant. Enjoyed every minute.