Ranking the episodes of The Acolyte

Greetings, reader!

The first season of The Acolyte, the latest Star Wars spin-off series streaming on Disney, recently wrapped up its eight-episode run. Taking place in the High Republic era, about a century before the prequel trilogy, this was a new outlook on Star Wars lore, and one that split fan opinions in a manner that would be funny if it wasn't incredibly sad (I'm thinking about the anti-woke manchildren who saw the first episode, didn't like it, and instead of going "Hm, this isn't for me, better not waste my energy watching it", decided to hate-watch the whole thing so that they could make 30-minute video essays about just how terrible the series was and how their strong alpha male masculinity was hurt by the devastating blow of female showrunners and nonbinary actors).

Anyhow, I liked the show - it's not Star Wars at its best, but also not Star Wars at its worst, and an overall compelling addition to the franchise. Here's my ranking of the episodes!

8. Day (Episode 4)

This was the episode where I came the closest to agreeing with many the negative reviews - while Day isn't terrible, it is the only Acolyte episode of which I have more negatives to discuss than positives, as the episode was an overall disappointment after the level of the first three chapters (thankfully the quality picked up for the second half of the season).

While there are wholesome moments and cool visuals to make the episode memorable enough, the plot was a bit too bait-and-switch for me - I appreciate build-up episodes in general, but the way in which this entire episode was about the characters slowly being on their way to a confrontation with The Stranger, and then ends just as they meet and things are about to get interesting, admittedly felt frustrating (not in a good cliffhanger -sense, but in a "this could've been condensed to be the first 10 minutes of the next episode" sense).

Also, this is a very subjective criticism, but I hated the way they killed off Kelnacca (Finland's own Joonas Suotamo) - if you're going to introduce something as f**king awesome as a Jedi-trained wookie, and then kill him off after just a few tiny scenes and no exploration of the character, I see that as a massive wasted opportunity.

7. Choice (Episode 7)

I have mixed feelings about the show's penultimate episode - I see and can appreciate what they tried to accomplish with its narrative, but the execution definitely could've been better. That being said, it's good enough in the show's context to work as a deep dive into further backstories and points of view.

Many fans loudly hated the fact that we returned to the flashback narrative for a second time, but I found this to be a neat premise: the season's narrative works as a nonlinear puzzle box, and the bits and pieces of lore we find out in episodes 3&7 help shape the events and actions of the present-day storyline. Showing the moments from around and in between the scenes of the third episodes was a nice way of recontextualizing many of the events and character motivations, but like I said, it could've been done better - some of the transitions between seen-before and new material were a bit clumsy, and the premise left me waiting for a bigger reveal. All in all, a cool idea for an episode, and one that could've been amazing with sharper writing.

On the plus side, we got more Kelnacca thanks to the flashbacks, and even a badass action sequence with him!

6. Lost/Found (Episode 1)

I tried to be as tabula rasa as I could when watching the pilot episode, as I don't like letting expectations cloud my judgment of movies/TV but rather make up my own mind based on the viewing experience. It wasn't easy to do, as there were positives in my expectations (a series taking plays a century before the prequel trilogy, exploring an era of Star Wars we've never seen before on the big screen? Hell yes!) as well as negatives (the ridiculously low ratings and negative reviews the series had been getting). However, I kept my mind as open as possible, and reached a very unsurprising conclusion: the pilot wasn't as great as our first-ever look at the intriguing High Republic era could've been, but nowhere near as bad as the angry manchildren of the internet made it out to be.

So, yeah, the pilot is okay. It does a decent job introducing the main characters and general premise, but doesn't have anything as epic or majorly attention-grabbing as many Star Wars stories. It's tamer than what I would've ideally liked from the setting, but the story and especially the final scenes were eyebrow-raising enough to leave me wanting more (especially when considering that the pilots to the best Star Wars shows, The Mandalorian and Andor, were also quite tame in a manner that establishes the premise in a subdued manner and later starts to build towards the great stuff).

5. Revenge/Justice (Episode 2)

The second episode is slightly better than the first, as the pace picks up and fuel gets added to the intrigue of the story while the overall quality stays on the same level. There are important moments of character building, and exciting close calls that tease the level of action we'd see later in the series.

The highlight for me is the ending, where the dialogue mentions the wookie Jedi Kelnacca, and we see him roaming around in a scene that is epic both visually and soundtrack-wise. That character addition immediately made me more curious and excited about the next episodes, which makes it all the more frustrating that the character was killed off in such an anticlimactic manner just a few episodes later.

4. Destiny (Episode 3)

Funny how the show's most widely hated episode, scoring an abysmal 3.6 on IMDB, wasn't even among the show's worst offerings in my view. It's no masterpiece, but an all-around interesting episode, the hate for which seems to stem from preconceived attitudes. Sure, if you've set your mind on hating something before you give it a chance, things like "the fire wouldn't have realistically spread that fast" will be something you notice and angrily write essays about online. Then again, if one were to watch the original Star Wars trilogy (that the elitist fans see as a divine piece of perfection above all criticism) with that attitude, you'd notice stuff like the Empire Strikes Back timeline being illogical in order to make the events seem more dramatic or Obi-Wan keeping his last name despite being in hiding from the Empire. People love the original trilogy because it comes from a magical time when people watched movies and television, and bear with me here, in order to enjoy it.

When reading online reviews, it often seems like I'm the only one left still watching Star Wars for the mythical reason of liking Star Wars and wanting to see what the franchise comes up with next, as opposed to hate-watching and nitpicking by people who really should shift their attention from IMDB reviews and video essays to a therapist's office. Anyways, the point I was getting to was that the much-hated third episode of The Acolyte is a nice little flashback story, giving more context to the main characters while expanding Star Wars lore with neat worldbuilding.

A lot of people complained about the witch coven storyline, which I really don't get - from a storytelling&worldbuilding perspective, which is really more interesting: A) there's a magical energy field binding the universe together but it can't be wielded by anyone except one group who do it in one exact way with strict rules, or B) there's a magical energy field binding the universe together and there are different groups in the large universe who have found different ways to relate to it?

3. The Acolyte (Episode 8)

The season finale is what you'd expect, bringing various plot lines together for a climactic showdown while setting up a potential second season with Marvel-style Easter eggs. The action is solid, and while none of the events are revolutionary, the conclusion of the first season is decent enough. The emotional moments (such as Sol's (Lee Jung-jae) death) weren't as powerful as the more emotional moments in The Mandalorian or Andor, but still had me more invested than Ahsoka or The Book of Boba Fett, confirming the show's placement as a middle-of-the-road instalment for the franchise's TV spin-offs.

The Easter eggs didn't feel as epic as they could have, but they were still enough to excite the nerd in me - I'm a regular fan service enjoyer, so the live action debut of Darth Plagueis and the Yoda teaser were neat additions for sure. It's a standard season finale that does its job, leaving room to grow after an uneven but potential-filled first season!

2. Teach/Corrupt (Episode 6)

After the major villain reveal in episode 5, this was the first instance where Manny Jacinto really got to shine in the role of The Stranger. I've always enjoyed fantasy and sci-fi that take a morally grey approach as opposed to black-and-white hero-villain narratives, so seeing the power and philosophy of the Jedi questioned by a fleshed-out antagonist is much more interesting than the bad-guy-wanting-to-destroy-good-guys-because-evil narrative we often see in franchises like Star Wars. Hearing these ideas causes conflict in the protagonist Osha (Amandla Stenberg), while her sister experiences the other side of the coin as staying in Jedi company makes her re-evaluate her anti-Jedi alignment.

1. Night (Episode 5)

In the fifth episode, we follow up on the previous entry's cliffhanger, and Night sure delivers. It's an action-heavy episode, with some of the very best-choreographed action we've seen across the Star Wars TV shows. The lightsaber battles are directed with sharp precision and their unfolding is intense to witness, while the story also finds room to take turns, particularly with the reveal of Manny Jacinto's supporting character Qimir as the show's main villain, The Stranger.

Casting the goofy Florida guy from The Good Place as a Star Wars villain was a risky road to take, but Jacinto is immediately attention-grabbing and surprisingly frightening in the role. Between the exciting action, shocking plot turns and intriguing cliffhanger, I choose this as my favorite instalment from The Acolyte.

All in all, the first season of The Acolyte wasn't all that great, but still miles better than a majority of the reviews online let on. I swear, Star Wars fans just love hating Star Wars - I mean, one of the big complaints I saw about the first episode was that opening with a text screen that illuminates the basic premise felt like the viewers are being patronized and treated as stupid. Yes, you read that correctly - the same Star Wars fans who put the original trilogy on the highest possible pedestal declared that opening with a plot-explaining text is terrible writing. Those double standards are more ridiculous than any Star Wars movie or series (even the infamous Holiday Special) will ever be.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for a post requested by my girlfriend Martta: the best human/animal friendships from television.

Top 10 Moments from the EURO2024 Tournament

Greetings, reader!

Well, the UEFA European Championship of football is over, and as per tradition, I've ranked my 10 favorite moments from the tournament (remember, the EUROs are technically a high-stakes reality TV series, so it's not off-topic for a movie/TV blog). These were the most unforgettable moments from this year's major tournament!

10. Italy makes it out in injury time

I was actually rooting for Croatia over Italy in this group stage match, but football is rarely black and white, so I can still appreciate the heroics of the Italy squad in how they got out. In what was the final group stage match for both teams, Croatia needed a win in order to qualify for the knockout stages, while a draw would've been enough for Italy. The emotional roller coaster began when Croatia got a penalty, veteran captain Luka Modric missed it - and then Modric scored from open play less than a minute later. That's resilience right there, and things looked good for the Croatians for a while.

However, the Italians showed their own incredible resilience when a beautiful passage of play lead to an equalizing goal - at 90+8 minutes. A goal of any kind at that stage of the game is an incredible feat, let alone a goal that prevents your team from getting eliminated. A heartbreaking moment for Croatia, but a miraculous escape for Italy.

9. The Liverpool captain face-off

The group stage match between Scotland and Hungary was special for me and all fellow Liverpool fans, as the captains for both national teams play for Liverpool F.C. in their professional careers. Andy Robertson and Dominik Szoboszlai (you'll never guess which one is the Scotsman and which one is the Hungarian from their names) were class acts in that game, which was especially evident when an especially bad injury riled things up and both captains calmed the situation down and helped the medical team do their job.

The game ended in yet another dramatic injury time goal, this time at 90+10 minutes for Hungary's win - it wasn't enough for them to make it to the knockout stages, but made sure that this was one of the more memorable group stage games, especially from a Liverpool fan's perspective.

8. Netherlands' hero defense against Turkey

The quarter final between Turkey and the Netherlands was nothing short of nerve-wracking. After Samet Akaydin's goal put Turkey ahead, they seemed to lock in their path to the semifinals with a frustratingly tight and impenetrable defensive line. However, after multiple tries had failed, the Dutchmen got their equalizer with Stefan De Vrij's clinical 70th-minute header, and capitalizing on the panic this had undoubtedly caused in their opponents, they scored again just six minutes later.

The last 15 minutes of the game had me on the edge of my seat, with Turkey pressing for an equalizer with escalatingly creative and intense attacking patterns, but the Netherlands kept their cool. I appreciate how their strategy wasn't a boring 10-men-in-the-box parking of the bus, but rather an athletically respectable and semi-heroic brand of tough defending, with all of Turkey's admittedly valiant attempts being stumped by various courageous slide tackles, acrobatic interceptions and other wonder deeds by Van Dijk, De Vrij and company.

7. Austria win their group

A good major tournament needs a good underdog story or two, and EURO2024 delivered on that front. I had a hunch of something like this, as foretold in my pre-tournament post on my EURO2024 predictions, where I said that Austria would somehow make it out of the 'group of death' against all odds. But never in my wildest dreams would've I pictured them winning the group, with the opponents being Poland, France and the Netherlands.

Yet that's what coach Ralf Rangnik's rag-tag group of misfits accomplished. They held their own against France but barely lost in a bitter 1-0 defeat, starting their tournament out with zero points. However, a 3-1 victory over Poland gave them hope, and in a moment no one saw coming, they beat eventual semi-finalist Netherlands 3-2 in their final group stage game in order to secure the top spot in the tournament's undoubtedly toughest group. While their EURO campaign came to an unfortunate end in the round of 16, Austria can rest easy with the memory of the brilliant upset they pulled in Group D.

6. Georgia kicks Portugal's ass

This was a major guilty pleasure for me - I rarely wish ill on any sports team, but I've always had whatever the opposite of a 'soft spot' is for Portugal, as I'm still not over the fact that they won the EURO2016 tournament with their demonic brand of unsportsmanlike, despicable anti-football. Plus, I often like rooting for the underdog in any given game, and the small country of Georgia was certainly just that when they faced Portugal in the group stages.

Therefore, their 2-0 victory was an absolute delight, both in the sense of Georgia winning and Portugal losing. They did it with enjoyable, street-style football too, with bold long-distance shots and wild attacking patterns dominating the style of their game as opposed to Portugal's boring antics. I especially liked the goal by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who truly proved to be the Kwisatz Haderach of football in this tournament.

5. A bittersweet swan song for Southgate's England

Gareth Southgate certainly was an opinion-dividing manager for England, and will likely spark debate for years to come. I didn't always agree with his tactics, but I've got to hand it to him: after decades and decades of upsetting and downright shocking major tournament campaigns, he got the Three Lions to two European Championship finals, as well as the semi-finals of one World Cup and the quarter-finals of another. Now that he confirmed his resignation after the tournament, I have mixed feelings about his legacy: he has all the rights in the world to be proud of his accomplishments and I hope he knows that and doesn't listen to the haters, but oh man, I would've hoped to see him ending his managerial run with a trophy. The man would've deserved it, especially considering the tragic legacy of his playing career in the 90's.

Still, while a trophy wasn't written in the stars this time, the Three Lions got to leave with their heads held high, coming in second place after three consecutive comeback victories in the knockout stage. It's easy to be pessimistic and say that it's extra-bitter to lose two consecutive finals, but I try to see the glass as half-full and appreciate the fact that England made it to two consecutive finals! While the final was inevitably bittersweet for us fans of English football, there's no escaping the fact that Spain deserved to win and I can't help but be happy for their players. The English team should be proud of how far they came, and I hope they'll find that alongside the inescapable bitterness of losing out on yet another trophy. Hey, maybe it'll come home in two years, with the World Cup being on the 60-year anniversary of their previous major tournament win...

4. Spain v Germany: the de facto final?

No major drama or emotional investment, just a f**king good game of proper football. I probably shouldn't be subscribing to the 'this was the true final' talking point as it does downplay England's EURO campaign, but at the same time, I do see the point. It hurts to admit as an England fan, but in many ways, these were the tournament's two best teams, and it was a shame that they faced each other already in the quarter-finals. Especially with another QF being Portugal vs France, two teams that did very little to deserve a spot in the semifinals. I kind of agree with whoever it was on the internet who said that we should just agree that Portugal and France both drop out and the semifinal is a repeat of Spain v Germany.

Anyhow, like I said, this was an awesome game of football. Brilliant attacking patterns, intense defending, beautiful passing, clever tactics and passionate team play from both sides, eventually culminating in a tight but admittedly deserved win by the eventual champions.

3. Yamal's semifinal wonder goal

There are a few solid contenders for goal of the tournament, as well as for the player of the tournament, but in both discussions, the 17-year-old Lamine Yamal has to be at least mentioned. The Barcelona wonderkid grabbed the world's attention with these Euros, with his brilliant dribbling cutting past any given defense lines while his sharp-precision passing earned him more assists than any other player in the tournament.

While finishing isn't the young winger's most impressive attribute, he proved to be quite the goalscorer as well at a crucial moment, with his magnificent out-of-the-box screamer equalizing the scoreline in the semi-final between Spain and France. I can't believe this dude is eight years younger than me.

2. Bellingham madness

As a romantic and an idealist, I don't like to admit it - but I had given up. Even though it was only the round of 16, and the opponent was no scarier than Slovakia, and England was only one goal down, I had still given up. It simply seemed like such an off-day for the whole squad, as they weren't getting anything done, and Slovakia's defense was thwarting all attempts of offensive play with ease. As the clock ran out, I felt less and less hope, and having seen many heartbreaking England eliminations over the years, I already accepted the scenario that the Three Lions would drop out in their first knockout game.

Then, 21-year-old Jude Bellingham scores an overhead kick at 90+5 minutes.

Suddenly, the score is 1-1, the game goes to overtime, and England ends up living to fight another day. I just can't get over the fact that it was that player, at that time in the match, with that kind of goal - it simply felt too good to be true. It was like something out of the over-dramatic joke predictions I make to my friends before watching a Liverpool game. Football has always been a magical sport, but very rarely is it this magical.

1. England beats Switzerland on penalties

Another England knockout game, another case of dramatically coming back from behind - only this time, the game went on to a penalty shoot-out. As any England fan will know, there is very little difference between going to the penalties and getting on the plane home. This time it felt extra-loaded, as the trauma of the last EUROs were there - not only did England lose the final on penalties, but the three players who missed their penalties all happened to be Black, and many 'fans' (read: disgraces to the sport and to humanity itself) reacted with horrendous racial abuse.

Out of those three players, who had the immense courage to take a penalty in a European Championship final for their country and who don't owe their country anything after what they went through, only one was in England's squad for EURO2024: Bukayo Saka. He was the main reason why I was begging for the game not to go to penalties, as I dreaded what might happen: as one of the best penalty takers in the world right now, the manager and team would naturally want him to take one, but it would be the most understandable thing in the world if he refused. And if he didn't refuse, what if the pressure were to get to him or the keeper were to make an amazing save, and the same thing would happen again?

After two penalties for both teams, Saka stepped up, and I was sweating like crazy just watching it on TV. I tried to comprehend the sheer guts required to voluntarily be in that situation again, but I of course no one but Saka himself can imagine the pressure of that moment. I'm not sure if I've ever been that nervous watching football - and as the penalty went in, I immediately felt tears swelling in my eyes. Two penalties later, to make the situation even more emotionally powerful, Liverpool defender (and one of my all-time favorite players) Trent Alexander-Arnold steps up to take the decisive penalty, and scores it to ensure England's spot in the semifinals.

It's a frustrating trend that the racist section of sport fans see players of color as praise-worthy national heroes and proud representatives of the country whenever they succeed, and as blame-worthy immigrants and foreigners when they fail. When England didn't win EURO2021, they blamed the three Black players and, indirectly but with clear and cruel intention, Black people. And those racists have absolutely no f**king right to celebrate England's 2nd-place finish in EURO2024: Jude Bellingham scored the last-minute equalizer against Slovakia to keep England in the tournament, Ollie Watkins scored the winning goal against the Netherlands to put England into the final, and four of the five successful penalty takers in the quarter-final were Black as well. England owes its EURO2024 success to Black players, which should really be in every news story about their campaign (and for the 'why do you have to make everything about race' crowd, I wouldn't be all up in arms about this if it wasn't for the actual making-everything-about-race people, a.k.a. the racists who abused Saka and company, making this into an issue).

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my ranking of the episodes in the new Star Wars spin-off series, The Acolyte.

Top 10 Films Directed By Women (An Update)

Greetings, reader!

A follower suggested this topic *checks notes* about a year ago (whoops) - I've already done a ranking of the top 10 movies by female directors (click here to read), but that was back in 2020 - many great new films made by women have been released then, and I've caught a few classics I hadn't seen back then since that time as well. So, instead of merely updating my old list, I've made a totally new one - everything that made it onto the original list has been excluded, in order to give more visibility to a bigger amount of films. So, the post from 4 years ago will give you ten great film recommendations (15 if you count the honorable mentions), and this one will give you 10/15 more. I hope you enjoy!

Here are my honorable mentions: Becoming (Nadia Hallgren), Birds of Prey (Cathy Yan), Don't Worry Darling (Olivia Wilde), The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion), The Proposal (Anne Fletcher).

10. Cocaine Bear (Elizabeth Banks)

I know, it's a bit, uh, different from many of the other films on this list or the honorable mentions. But honestly, Cocaine Bear is unironically just so very good in its own category. I've seen closer to a thousand different movies in my lifetime, and I guarantee that there is no other that lives up to the promise of its title as fully and with such perfection as Cocaine Bear.

For the target audience, people who paid for a movie ticket and went to the cinema to see a (very loosely) true-story-based account of the bear that accidentally ingested cocaine and momentarily became the world's most dangerous apex predator, this film goes out of its way to deliver the inherent chaos and gruesome entertainment that the premise called for. Elizabeth Banks, you are a legend.

9. Pet Sematary (Mary Lambert)

The original film adaptation of Stephen King's Pet Sematary is a delight - while it's not quite as scary as the 2019 remake, I do consider it an overall better film. The plot is loyal to the masterpiece of horror literature that the picture is based on, and the casting of Fred Gwynne as the book's most interesting character, Jud Crandall, is beyond perfect down to the nuances of his strong Maine accent.

Mary Lambert does a great job bringing the characters, settings and events of the book to life, making the film a thoroughly solid adaptation - it's a delight to see the pages of the novel coming to life in such an intimate manner. Of course, the cherry on top of the sundae is that excellent Ramones song composed for the film - that banger, much like a dead cat brought to life in a haunted burial ground, will never die.

8. Tove (Zaida Bergroth)

Whoo, go Finland! Zaida Bergroth paints a beautiful picture of legendary artist Tove Jansson in this hard-hitting biopic, that truly does the mastermind behind the Moomins justice. Tove is slow-paced in just the right way: we spend time with the main character and other major players in a way that lets them breathe, with an intimate sense of Jansson's motivations, fears and other inner workings. It is particularly fitting that the biopic about Jansson, a trailblazer for equality, was brought forth by a female director, something that is still woefully rare for big-scale projects in Finland as well as Hollywood. Bergroth does a great job putting it all together, making for one of the finest Finnish films in recent years.

7. Nomadland (Chloé Zhao)

There are many Best Picture winners in Oscar history that are less good than Nomadland, and there are quite a few (not that many, to be honest) that are better. But I guarantee that there is no other Best Picture winner in the history of the Academy that is as fitting for its year as Nomadland for 2020.

Mind you, the film isn't even about Covid. It takes place in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. However, the film's whole vibe of travelling in bleak milieus, meeting people with gripping stories and little to no hope, and just generally making it from day to day really makes this the ultimate 2020 movie. Chloé Zhao creates a unique and well-crafted atmosphere, making her Oscar wins thoroughly deserved (and moving, considering that she became only the second-ever woman and the first-ever woman of color to win Best Director).

6. Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution (Page Hurwitz)

A fresh release from just this year, Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution is a documentary about LGBTQ+ stand-up comedians. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community and an aspiring stand-up comedian, I guess it's no wonder that the film really spoke to me - I don't remember the last time I've experienced such a combo of laughter and tears from a movie.

In terms of editing and overall style, it's a pretty standard documentary, but it's all about the substance and the story that Page Hurwitz chose to tell with her platform. The interviews and clips make for a tapestry ranging from heartbreaking to uplifting, the end product will not only make you hope for the world becoming better via laughter, but maybe even believe in it.

5. Myrskyluodon Maija (Tiina Lymi)

The second Finnish film to make it onto this list, as well as the second 2024 release, there's a damn good reason that Myrskyluodon Maija was a such a hit in Finland at the beginning of the year. Us Finns just can't get enough of this story, as it was transformed from a beloved book to a beloved TV series and to a beloved musical, after which we got what will surely go down as a beloved film adaptation as well.

It makes sense that a story so incredibly bleak and full of hardship would resonate with the gritty and pessimistic Finnish mindset, but mind you, Tiina Lymi's film handles the story's inescapable sadness with an overwhelming contrast of beauty and passion. Rauno Ronkainen's cinematography is stunning, complementing Lymi's ambitious adaptation and making for an end product that is quite simply breathtaking.

4. Boys Don't Cry (Kimberly Peirce)

Based on the heartbreaking true story of trans teenager Brandon Teena, Boys Don't Cry is one of the most gripping, hard-to-watch films I've ever come across. Sure, casting cisgender Hilary Swank in the lead role wasn't the most sensitive choice and one that wouldn't be made today, but as it was the 90's, just telling this story was a major step forward in a rampantly transphobic society.

I'm not even sure if I'd recommend this film to a trans person - I'm guessing they already have a pretty good idea about how horrible our society is and don't need a depressing movie to remind them. I think the people who would benefit the most from watching this movie are everyone and anyone who have a shed of transphobia within them - I don't know if a simple movie can change anyone's worldview, but I'd like to think that sitting through two agonizing hours of a human being, going through absolute hell simply because of who he is, might make someone at least consider why they're siding with hatred and judgement as opposed to love and acceptance.

3. Selma (Ava DuVernay)

I don't remember the source, but I once saw a graph where some of the most popular 'based on a true story' films of the last 10 years were compared on how accurate they were based on a scene-by-scene study cross-referenced with historical sources. Ava DuVernay's Martin Luther King Jr. biopic pretty much destroyed every other film, and honestly, that tracks - when compared to the likes of The Imitation Game, Spotlight or The Trial of the Chicago 7, parts of Selma feel slow-paced, mundane and almost boring. And that is absolutely a worthy price to pay for a film that is actually f**king historically accurate.

Mind you, I love over-dramatized biopics as well (of course there's a limit to everything - 300 is a bit much even for me). But especially when considering all of the cinema enthusiasts who whine about details going slightly wrong, I think that Ava DuVernay deserves myriads of respect for showing the world what an actually fact-based biopic looks like and how it's done.

I really want to clarify that when I said 'boring', it was very much not a critique against this fantastic film but rather a commentary that in the unfair playing field Hollywood has created, realistic events inescapably feel like that to a viewer who is used to the 'let's really bend the facts to make the story even more dramatic' style we see in almost every Hollywood biopic. Selma will bring you down to earth. And, let's face it - the story of MLK is so enthralling that even with this more-subdued-than-we're-used-to style, it is by no means a snoozefest, and ends up being an inspiring and hard-hitting viewing experience.

2. Barbie (Greta Gerwig)

In 2024, there has been quite a bit of discourse on the internet about last year's smash hit, and whether it was actually overhyped and not all that great at all. I've read these takes with an open mind, and come to the conclusion that yes, if the expectation set for Barbie was for it to be the greatest film of all time and also tackle every single issue relating to women's rights and also solve sexism in the world completely, then yes, it doesn't quite live up. But maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't be laying such expectations on individual movies, that inherently are individual stories that an individual filmmaker has decided to tell. When enjoyed simply as a movie, Barbie is an imaginative, entertaining, powerful and thoroughly unforgettable viewing experience, and thus better than most movies (hence its placement at my #1 favorite film of last year).

Gerwig's writing operates on levels most of us could only imagine of achieving, and her directing complements the vision with perfection. The roles are well-cast, the balance of gripping and through-provoking issues with zany and chaotic humor works, and the set design makes for just such a visually fun experience. Undoubtedly a future classic.

1. 13th (Ava DuVernay)

This Oscar-nominated documentary should be mandatory viewing for every U.S. politician, any citizen who has trouble grasping the term 'structural racism' or racism in general, and actually just pretty much every human being. It's infuriating to witness racism being as relevant as ever today, with millions of Americans wanting Trump back in the White House ('White' as in 'White supremacy') while a particularly spineless Prime Minister is letting racism dominate the political landscape of my other home country as well. It feels confusing that all of this is still happening, even though people are learning about racism and it has become more and more frowned-upon in the mainstream over the years - and this documentary sheds light on just why it is that racism is so damn prevalent in our society.

Ava DuVernay's brilliant directing takes a look at the various ways racism has infested the structures of American society, drawing lines from slavery and segregation all the way to police brutality and today's broken criminal justice system. The documentary is factual and free of unnecessary dramatization, yet it still manages to be nothing short of shocking in terms of the truths it uncovers. One of my all-time favorite documentaries, and a gripping masterpiece by one hell of a director.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my list of the top 10 moments from the EURO2024 tournament, that ends in just a few days.