The basu! Guide to the Movies

#FBF so how about a #Flashback Movie? 😁 #EuropaEuropa (1990) Stunning, challenging, unforgettable piece of cinema that truly earns its legendary reputation. The great Holland takes an usual approach, making a gentle, by turns furious, funny, sad, emotional, surreal, episodic action-adventure film, but she never, ever, loses sight of the elemental horror at the root of it all. The film keeps you off balance the whole time with its expert shifts in tone, supporting characters, locations…heck, *every*thing that by the end you end up having gone through an all-time emotional wringer. The direction is superb, as is the cinematography, music, production design. And the wonderful cast, the background characters that come and go, each having a hand in the main character's evolution as a human being, all leading up to that emotionally-shattering ending. And the kid at the center of it all, Hofschneider, my goodness, what a way to make a debut! He's in every scene, almost...

#TheAssistant • Very thought-ful/provoking look at the all-too timel-y/ess hazard of working in the entertainment industry, and how invisibly exploited it makes the powerless.  • Unusual directing style by Green, low-key, deliberative, but with that all-too familiar feeling of dread hanging over the whole thing. • Very well played by the entire cast, from the obnoxious male assistants, to the dismissive execs, to the put-upon staff, the people walking in with stars in their eyes (un/very?)knowing about what’s about to unfold, to Sanders’s terrifying (and flashback-inducing😬) voice performance, Macfayden’s…well, you realise then just how easy it is for these things to happen and what powerlessness truly feels like(😬).  • But, my goodness, Garner, she makes the entire thing worthwhile. Her tightly coiled, watchful, reacti-ve/onary performance deserves *all* the #SpiritAwards. She’s just so great in *every*thing she does, no? --- #KittyGreen #JuliaGarner #MatthewMacfayden #JayO...