News culture 8 films to see at the cinema in February 2024: the return of Dune, a villainous Spider-Man, the new Quentin Dupieux…

Culture news 8 films to see at the cinema in February 2024: the return of Dune, a villainous Spider-Man, the new Quentin Dupieux…

Daaaaaali!

After shining with Yannick last year, Quantin Dupieux and his unparalleled productivity return in 2024 with a new project: “Daaaaaali!”, which will therefore focus on the famous artist Salvador Dalí (here played by Edouard Baer) interviewed several times by a French journalist (Anaïs Demoustier) for a documentary. What can we say, except that the feature film perfectly represents the incredible and deliciously absurd spirit of the illustrious director: it is unique in its kind – some will say “special” – and it will certainly be worth the detour, especially if you have a second degree and you already know the fabulous filmography of Dupieux (who is also a producer and DJ under the pseudonym Mr. Oizo, did you know that?). Oh, and by the way: the casting is completely crazy with the presence of Gille Lellouche, Jonathan Cohen, Pio Marmaï, Didier Flamand, Romain Duris and even Agnès Hurstel.

• Cinema release : February 7, 2023
• Director : Quentin Dupieux
• With : Anaïs Demoustier, Gilles Lellouche, Edouard Baer

The Kingdom of Kensuke

Adapted from the novel by Michael Morpurgo, The Kingdom of Kensuké is a cartoon that may well warm your little hearts, whether you are grown up or not. The story is that of Michael, a young eleven-year-old boy who finds himself stranded on an island with his dog Stella. As they fight for their survival, the inseparable duo meets an old man named Kensuké, a former Japanese soldier who has lived here alone since the war. Together, they will learn to know each other while having to fight against poachers, who have come to steal the monkeys present on the island: a film which promises to be visually charming, well written and full of emotion, and which has even aroused the curiosity of Prestigious actors like Cilian Murphy (Oppenheimer) or Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), engaged in dubbing in original version. Cool, right?

• Cinema release : February 7, 2023
• Director : Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry
• With : Cillian Murphy, Sally Hawkins, Raffey Cassidy

The beast

In 2044, artificial intelligence reigns supreme and to better dominate, it tries to erase human emotions. With the help of a machine, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) will purify her DNA by reliving the life of her ancestor from the beginning of the 20th century (hello Assassin’s Creed!), where she will meet the ancestor of her today’s great love, Louis (George MacKay). Obviously, everything is not going to go as planned and this story directed by Bertrand Bonello (Coma, Saint Laurent) navigates between poetry, racing hearts, twisted dramas and science fiction for a cocktail that promises to be poignant. In any case, enough to be selected at the prestigious Venice Festival, for example. Interesting.

• Cinema release : February 7, 2023
• Director : Bertrand Bonello
• With : Léa Seydoux, George MacKay, Guslagie Malanda

Bob Marley: One Love

Bob Marley, everyone knows from far or near. But here, this polished biopic invites you to enter into the intimacy of the Jamaican singer, a true legend of music and pop culture (or even of all humanity, let’s be crazy), flirting with anthology concerts as well as with the human dramas he was able to experience. It is indeed in a destabilized and violent country that the anthology artist was able to deliver human messages to unify society, despite attacks and other unjust arrests: in short, there is something to say and something to dance in this film concocted by Reinaldo Marcus Green, who has already worked on the excellent series Top Boy, but also signed feature films like The Williams Method or Joe Bell. There is a way to have a great time.

• Cinema release : February 14, 2023
• Director : Reinaldo Marcus Green
• With : Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, Michael Gandolfini

Madame Web

After both Venom and Morbius, Sony continues to expand its own Spider-Verse (but still without Spider-Man, a shame) with Madame Web, which for once will not focus on Spider-villains , but on one of his allies, Cassandra Web. Simple nurse, this new heroine played by Dakota Johnson discovers supernatural powers, then able to predict the future: with three other friends, also endowed with their own abilities, they will then have to assume their past and their destiny while defying a super-villain played by Frenchman Tahar Rahim, who is like an evil version of Spider-Man. Well, we don’t really know what this new blockbuster will bring, but the fact remains that we are necessarily curious to see if SJ Clarkson (who has already directed episodes for Dexter, Dr House, Orange is the New Black and a bunch of other series) will manage to raise the bar after the previous films in this extended universe. We cross fingers…

• Cinema release : February 14, 2023
• Director : SJ Clarkson
• With : Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor

A life

Want to have a good cry? “Une vie” is here to satisfy your desires for strong emotions. This British film adapts for the first time for the cinema a true story, that of Nicholas (Anthony Hopkins), an English banker who managed to save 669 Jewish children during World War II by organizing convoys to the United Kingdom. Even more poignant, his heroic actions were only brought to light in 1988, during a television show where Nicholas was invited without knowing that many children, now adults, were present in the audience. Well, there you have it, all the components are there to take out the Kleenex and the trailer promises a historical drama as we like them, revisiting the horrors of war, but also the benefits of humanity that may have resulted from it. Ah, female dog of life.

• Cinema release : February 21, 2023
• Director :James Hawes
• With : Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin

Dune: Part Two

Denis Villeneuve is undoubtedly one of the greatest lovers of science fiction and after having produced First Contact and Blade Runner 2049, the Canadian director set out to revisit Dune through a brand new trilogy. The first film was released in 2021 and had already made many people agree: its sequel will therefore arrive next month and is one of the most anticipated feature films of the year, period. We will thus find Paul Atreides, still played by Timothée Chalamet, then allied with new factions to lead the rebellion on a planet which has not finished revealing fascinating secrets. Once again, you have to expect a spectacle of great magnitude, where the photography is amazing every minute and where the atmospheric aspect grabs you like the most merciless quicksand: you should experience a great moment (the film lasts 2h46 on top of that) and more than ever, it’s really worth going to see in a cinema.

• Cinema release : February 28, 2023
• Director : Denis Villeneuve
• With : Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson

Eureka

We were talking about a journey just above with Dune, but the one offered by Eureka promises to be just as fascinating, if not more: selected at the Cannes Film Festival and already acclaimed by the press, this film tells the story of Sadie, a young American of Indian origin who decides to travel through time and space during a long summer night. In this absolute and mystical trip, she meets other Indians: everything seems different to her and the historical truth seems to hit her in the face, as if she finally sees the light. With the addition of the presence of Virgo Mortensen (does it still need to be introduced?) and Chiara Mastroianni (The Children of Others, The Girl with the Bracelet), Eureka promises to be a powerful auteur film, with strangely fascinating and with finely thought-out lighting effects. The Seventh Art is also that and it can (really) be worth the detour.

• Cinema release : February 28, 2023
• Director : Lisandro Alonso
• With : Viggo Mortensen, Chiara Mastroianni, Rafi Pitts