Favourite Films - January and February 2025
Better Man (Michael Gracey)
A round up of favourite films and highlights, and a couple of annoyances from the past two months of cinema going.
New films (theatrical releases + film festivals)
Top favourite:
Better Man (Michael Gracey): First attended the preview screening on December 30 where I left liking it more than I expected and wanted to see it again. Watched it twice since then in VOX Wafi + Pathé Koninklijk Theater Tuschinski (Amsterdam). More here.
The rest in alphabetical order and where I watched them:
6 Days (Karim Shaaban) - VOX Wafi
Ariel (Lois Patiño) - IFFR 2025 - Cinerama
Arthur the King (Simon Cellan Jones) - VOX Wafi
Bahar Biss / Just Sea (Franziska Von Stenglin) - Kino (IFFR 2025)
Beating Hearts / L’amour ouf (Gilles Lellouche) - Pathe (IFFR 2025)
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (Michael Morris)
A Complete Unknown (James Mangold) - Reel Cinemas Dubai Mall
The Count of Mount Cristo (Alexandre de La Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte) - Pathe (IFFR 2025)
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (Christian Gudegast) - Reel Cinemas Dubai Mall and VOX Festival City
Flow (Gints Zilbalodis) - Pathé City (Amsterdam)
I’m Still Here (Walter Salles) - TR Schouwburg (IFFR 2025)
John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office (Michael Almereyda, Courtney Stephens) - Kino (IFFR 2025)
Presence (Steven Soderbergh) - VOX Wafi
Sex (Dag Johan Haugerud) - Eye (Amsterdam)
Snow White (Taghrid Abouelhassan) - VOX Festival City
Where the Wind Comes From (Amel Guellaty) - Kino (IFFR 2025)
All the films I watched in cinemas listed here on Letterboxd.
A couple of annoyances:
Nosferatu (Robert Eggers) was the first new release of the year. The film was rated 18+ which should in theory have minimal censorship. Some nudity was blurred throughout, but the key last scene was ended abruptly. I wonder if the box office results were worth it or was it better not to release the film at all.
The Last Showgirl (Gia Coppola) was quietly released in a handful of Vox Cinemas in the country, also rated 18+. This too was released with an edited and very abrupt ending. Based on the film’s script that I found online and added here for reference, I couldn’t imagine there was anything culturally inappropriate to censor, especially since we’ve already seen Pamela Anderson and the rest of the cast in their dance costumes. The non-ending version we got just ruined my experience of watching the film.
I watched it on the first day of its release at VOX Mirdif City Centre and was the only one. I doubt many people knew it was released because I found it removed from the listing less than a week after I saw it.
Rep Cinema
Dubai:
Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014) - Reel Cinemas Dubai Mall:
Went with my nephew who watched it for the first time in a cinema.
Seven (David Fincher, 1995) - VOX Festival City:
Was curious to see what the new restored version looked like. A lot slicker than I expected, and I left thinking Zodiac is the better serial killer film by Fincher.
Rotterdam:
The Open Door (Henry Barakat, 1963) - Cinerama
Wrote about it here.
Amsterdam:
Lone Star (John Sayles, 1996) - Eye: I had only seen this at home when it was released on VHS and been wanting to see it in a cinema for 30 years. I don’t think a film with that ending would be made today.
David Lynch Films, rewatching these at Eye:
Mulholland Drive (2001, 35mm)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Lost Highway (1997)
Wild at Heart (1990)
Erasurehead (1977, 35mm)
+ finally watching for the first time, The Elephant Man (1980) at Lab111
More here.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan Retrospective at Eye:
Uzak / Distant (2002)
The Wild Pear Tree (2018)
Iklimer / Climates (2006)
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)
Koza / Cocoon (1995)
Kasaba / The Small Town (1997)
More here.