Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Director: James Cameron. Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Edie Falco. 192 min. Rated PG-13. Fantasy/Action.

• You can say James Cameron's (first) sequel to his epic 2009 movie is too long, you can say it's a reiteration of the original film combined with a Titanic ending, and you can say the multitude of new characters makes this episode slightly confusing. But you cannot doubt one thing: James Cameron is the grandmaster of his craft. The movie is long, but you can sit there watching those stunning underwater scenes with their mind-blowing fantasy creativity ... forever. 
• One criticism I've had for George Lucas' fantasy worlds, is that in a battle between two alien species (in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, for instance), you don't care much about the casualties of the good guy aliens. Here, in a movie where almost all characters are non-human, you cry for the death of one of them. Show me a scene where Lucas has ever made you shed a tear for a space alien.
• To top it all, rarely does anybody choreograph action sequences as good as Cameron does (remember Terminator 2, or Aliens?). Your eyes are glued to the screen for the entire last hour of this movie. In the era of easy, boring computerized action movies, that is a grand achievement. 
• But it's not all just razzle dazzle. There are some hidden messages: the first movie was a Dances with Wolves in space (one of ours joining them to become one of them), this one touches on the hardships of immigration, and the resulting xenophobia. And the environment-friendly vibes exude throughout.
• Avatar: The Way of Water is the ultimate movie entertainment experience. I dare you name a movie as visually stimulating as this one. Watch it on as big a screen as possible.
• (And Jim, we love your movies, but can you do it a little shorter next time?)

MoGo's rating: 8/10

Your rating: Enter here!

X (2022), Pearl (2022)

X: Director: Ti West. Cast: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow. 105 min. Rated R. Horror.

Pearl: Director: Ti West. Cast: Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright. 103 min. Rated R. Horror.

• X is one of those films where from the very first Searchers-inspired frame (a dark room doorway opening to the horizon of a porch - in this case a blood-splattered porch), you know you're dealing with a great movie. After this introduction to the aftermath of a bloodbath in the house, with the chilling words of a priest preaching the Lord on TV in the background, we flash back to how this all happened, in 1979 - that most fun year in America. A group of young filmmakers embark in a van, under the sun, on a trip to a big house, owned by a creepy old couple, in a field in the middle of nowhere, with broken down cars in the vicinity (all obvious references to that other horror masterpiece, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), to film à la 70s vibes ... a porn movie. Although we know beforehand these youngsters will start getting killed off one by one in violent ways (like they used to in Camp Crystal Lake in Friday the 13th), it's the attention the movie pays to that old couple, particularly the old lady, whose name we're hinted to be Pearl, who longs the days she was young and pretty like these spoiled kids, that separates and elevates this from the usual gruesome horror genre of those years. And did I mention there are some truly scary moments here? Director Ti West shows that he knows (and loves) the medium, because X is that once-in-a-decade incredibly well-made horror movie.
• With Pearl, premiered this year a mere 6 months after the first movie, and set in 1918, we've already been primed that this will be the origin story of the old lady in X, that her husband is still fighting in one of those wars he was mentioned in X to survive from, and that she is waiting for her turn at acting superstardom. While not as scary as the first movie, the prequel continues X's simple love affair with cinema, this time in the form of bright colorful cinematography (as opposed to the dark gloom of X), multiple homages to the Golden Age of Hollywood, and Pearl's introduction to the hypnotism of watching something forbidden - on the screen. Not much of a surprise that legendary film director, historian and restoration artist, Martin Scorsese, has praised the movie. The shining light here is Mia Goth's portrayal as Pearl, with her long disturbing monologue towards the end revealing her descent into murderous insanity, and a final end-credits continuous close-up on her face, projecting a succession of contradictory emotions from a fractured mind.
• The third film of the trilogy, MaXXXine, is currently under development, and follows the story of Maxine from the first movie (played again by Mia Goth) and her acting career in the 80s.  

MoGo's rating (X): 9/10

Your rating: Enter here!

MoGo's rating (Pearl): 8/10

Your rating: Enter here!

The Menu (2022)

Director: Mark Mylod. Cast: Stars Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, Janet McTeer. 107 min. Thriller/Horror.

• A group of well-to-do people journey to a unique restaurant on a remote island to enjoy an exemplary dinner, hosted by a legendary chef. Their isolation from civilization creates the perfect setting for a horror movie, about the "obnoxious elitism" so accepted in the real world and so intentionally ignorant to the filth happening around them in the movie, you occasionally want to cheer at how these poor souls have sealed their fate by taking this luxurious trip. Nevertheless, some moments were so tense, I almost audibly gasped. Add to that Ralph Fiennes' villainous prowess, Anya Taylor-Joy's everlasting charm, and a subtle comedic touch, and you have an extremely watchable movie on your hands - even if it isn't able to maintain the thrilling tension it creates all the way till the end.

MoGo's rating: 8/10

Your rating: Enter here!

The Fabelmans (2022), Armageddon Time (2022)

The Fabelmans: Director: Steven Spielberg. Cast: Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogan, Judd Hirsch. 151 min. Biography/Drama.

Armageddon Time: Director: James Gray. Cast: Banks Repeta, Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Chastain. 114 min. Biography/Drama.

• We have two movies, screened within weeks: Spielberg telling his coming-of-age story in The Fabelmans, and James Gray telling his in Armageddon Time. Both show kids struggling in dysfunctional families, both show coming to grasp with a Jewish identity, both kids having an inspiring second degree family figure (Judd Hirsch as the uncle in the former, Anthony Hopkins as the grandfather in the latter), and both stories that are ... sloooow. The movies make you wonder: other than the fact that powerful directors have resources to make a highly stylish cinematic rendering of their childhoods with events as dramatic (or even less dramatic) as other kids and families, what's the reason to watch this? 
• Actually, while Michelle Williams does a tremendous job as Spielberg's conflicted mom, and The Fabelmans' best scene is the final moment with David Lynch as John Ford (it's truly a great scene), I'd consider Armageddon Time a better movie, because it carries a question of whether you'll have the courage to stand up for what you know deep inside is right - or just cower away into your hole.
• Watch The Fabelmans for multiple scenes showing the inspiration for some of Spielberg's best directed/produced movie moments, including E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Poltergeist, and Back to the Future.
• Watch for a short scene in Armageddon Time including Trump's father and sister (played by Jessica Chastain).

MoGo's rating (The Fabelmans): 7/10

Your rating: Enter here!

MoGo's rating (Armageddon Time): 7/10

Your rating: Enter here!