Challengers
Luca Guadagnino’s sexy, sweaty, and sultry tennis ménage à trois drama is a grand slam and arguably the best of his career thus far. He and writer Justin Kuritzkes serve up a relentless, riveting romance for the ages that’s structured and paced magnificently. The amazing camerawork and editing, along with an explosive Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score make for an undeniably pulse-pounding experience.
Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor have electric chemistry while delivering three tremendous, tantalizing performances. They play people who constantly get off on competition, vying for everything and where nothing is out of bounds. Though their entrancing emotional entanglement is totally toxic as it’s designed by adoration, power plays, obsession, desire, manipulation, and codependency – it seems they can’t get enough of it.
Challengers is incredibly intense, intelligent, and intoxicating from the first swing to the last.
Dune Part 2
Denis Villeneuve masterfully continues with his stunning, insanely immersive, and unforgettable world of prophecy, cruelty, and faith with one of the best sequels/sci-fi spectacles of all time. It’s breathtaking from beginning to end. From being visually magnificent to the exceptional performances to the seat-shaking score from Hans Zimmer – it’s epic on every single level.
Babes
Rivals Hundreds of Beavers for best comedy of the year so far. It’s heartfelt and hilarious and painfully relatable if you’re a parent. A must-see!
Daughters
An immensely emotional, heartwarming documentary about incarcerated fathers connecting with their daughters in a daddy/daughter dance that takes place in jail. It’s a powerful portrait of forgiveness and second chances, and why showing up for one another means the world.
Inside Out 2
A spectacular sequel that continues to invent and expand as Riley continues to grow into who she is, and with that come new emotions to deal with. It’s top-tier Pixar with a poignant, funny, and heartfelt story that may not carry the same emotional heft as the first, but still speaks movingly on taking the good with the bad because all of it makes us who we are. The animation is obviously stunning and the voice acting is delightful. Maya Hawke steals the show as Anxiety!
Civil War
Unnerving , unflinching and tension-filled, Alex Garland’s war thriller excellently captures a United States that’s not that unimaginable and, more importantly, the passion, courage, and sacrifice of war journalists telling the story from the frontlines. Some of the film’s ideas hit harder than others, but there’s no denying the significance in its storytelling. Featuring exceptional cinematography, remarkable sound design, and fantastic performances – Garland equally exhibits true heroism and horror with haunting imagery that feels all too real. There’s no side or stance taken. It’s up to us to ask the difficult questions that will have answers we won’t like.
As well as…
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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