The CURIOUS case of my two favourite 2024 movies

"Cinema as we know it is dead."

I've read and heard this phrase, with those words or similar ones referring to the same—inaccurate—idea, thousands of times recently. The generalized pseudo-concept of movies not being done like before has been installed in a certain part of the cinephile's collective subconscious and gets repeated over and over… and over again. Is it nostalgia or laziness? There're still options for everyone: auteur blockbusters for the most sophisticated eyes, meaningless productions for those who consider cinema mere "entertainment", low-budget films with great stories, amazing ideas badly-executed, unnecessary remakes, ground-breaking remakes and the list can go on…

Particularly, a few months before the end of 2024, I'm investigating the curious case of my two favourite movies which premiered this year: Dune: Part Two and The Last Stop in Yuma County. The curious thing is that, against all odds, these movies have absolutely NOTHING in common, neither the budget, tone, directing style, topics, approaches, nothing. Another curious thing is that you probably don't know The Last Stop in Yuma County exists, unlike Dune: Part Two, which, until a few months ago, was 2024's highest-grossing film and which has transformed into an imminent saga. But don't take it as a personal complaint, the seventh art has many gems hidden where one least expects them. I only say this to make you understand that this art, as we know it, is not dead by any chance.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH DUNE:

Both Dune movies were completely different. I had some expectations for Dune: Part One's sequel since, just by pronouncing the—almost—unpronounceable surname of its director, one expects, at least, something from relatively good to grandiose. His work may not be everyone's cup of tea—I don't think there's a director that literally EVERYONE likes—but there's no doubt that Denis knows the game with his hits and misses. From his 2008 creative restart with the flawless Polytechnique, he has been a hot-topic. His arrival to Hollywood felt—and still feels—like a necessary breath of fresh air. Since 2016, he's been devoted to science fiction, refining the art of narrating stories with iconic images along with the musical score of the unmistakable—and also iconic— composer Hans Zimmer.

I'm going to be honest: watching Dune: Part Two at the cinema was a magnificent experience. Villeneuve managed to position himself among the few modern auteur blockbusters' directors in Hollywood nowadays with the biggest and most iconic war and science fiction movie of all time. His vision—hugely extraordinary and stunningly calculated—of an actual galactic war (sorry George Lucas) among the Fremen, the Harkonnen and the Atreides is a trip to the old biblical stories but in the futuristic world only Frank Herbert could have built. The movie, which seems to have more narrative and is more visually "muscular" than the first one, creates an atmosphere which perfectly mixes realism, social perspectives and science fiction with topics such as the political dynamics which defined the books. For someone who had never read the original book, I found the plot twists and all the knowledge to be the most enjoyable part.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY:

Meanwhile, in the corner of another desert which isn't Arrakis, but one that is just a few kilometers away from the studios where the biggest blockbusters of all are produced, a small movie—I would even dare to say, a tiny movie—was being shot. I discovered Francis Galluppi's debut film by chance, and I even sent him a message through Instagram, to which he answered with a "thank you" and completely fulfilled me. My lack of knowledge about the film and its surroundings not only pleasantly surprised me, but also made me enjoy an experience which mixes the best of the Coens brothers' early films, Hitchcock's unmistakable suspense and Tarantino's dialogues.

It seems bold of me to compare this work to such important and relevant names in film history, but let me tell you that, when the movie ended, I felt captivated by a unique experience. I enjoyed Dune's 200 million budget as much as this small western's modest million budget. What makes The Last Stop in Yuma County amazing is its plot: several people are stuck in a filling station's coffee shop in the middle of the Californian desert and the suspicions that two of them are criminals turn into reality. Each persons' greed, ambition and morality start to clash in the air and tension reaches unsustainable levels. Nonetheless, Galluppi not only limits himself to create a captivating story in this context, but also offers later sequences which make us ponder about how little determination human beings can have regarding their biggest wishes.

BY JERÓNIMO CASCO

Posted on OCTOBER 1, 2024, 13:10 PM | UTC-GMT -3

You can also find me on Instagram as 👉 JerodeSeptimoArte

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