'The Last Showgirl' Reviews: Pamela Anderson Could Nab an Oscar Nod!

         On December 13, 2024, Roadside Attractions releases 'The Last Showgirl', which has earned predominantly positive reviews from critics and a score of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of this writing. In the film, "a glamorous showgirl who must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run." The ensemble cast includes Pamela Anderson, Dave Bautista, John Clofine, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Billie Lourd. Read the full review round-up below.

        Gregory Ellwood of The Playlist notes, "When Curtis walks onto a table in the middle of a casino and starts dancing to Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” throwing her job away as visitors barely notice, you know there is something special here. You just wish there was more of it" Concluding, "For most of the film, Anderson has played her role, for lack of a better description, as very demure, very mindful. It’s been mostly a quiet, confident performance. Shelly has her own set of street smarts but has almost lived her entire life in this Vegas strip bubble. When the bubble pops, Anderson unleashes an unforeseen wave of emotion encapsulating Shelly’s pain. Many may have recognized that Anderson was an underrated actress before “The Last Showgirl.” That being said, few believed she could project this from deep within her soul. Describing it as a revelation may be a stretch, but it’s damn close."

Photo Courtesy of Roadside Attractions

        Amber Wilkinson of Eye for Film says, "The script marks a step up from TV shows for Kate Gertsen (The Good Place, Mozart In The Jungle) and she brings a lot of verve to the dialogue, especially in early scenes where talk of the price of lemons mixes with costume snagging and general conversation as the dancers scramble about backstage, captured with grace by cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw. But while Gertsen proves sure-footed in the melee, her characterisations lack the detail in the film's more quiet moments to fully sell the emotional beats. Anderson, for her part, acquits herself well, bringing an edge of panic to the perpetually sunny-side-up Shelley as she finds the illusions she has carefully crafted for herself start to crumble. The supporting cast are uniformly strong, particularly Bautista, who brings a real soulfulness to his role and Jason Schwarzman (Coppola’s cousin), enjoying a sharply written cameo."

       Peter Debruge of Variety was less impressed, stating, "The Last Showgirl intends to reclaim the nobility of these women, to remind that they’re real people, with dreams and disappointments of their own. But a little more dimension would have gone a long way." Continuing, "Granted, there’s something poignant and vulnerable in Anderson’s decision to play a Las Vegas dancer who’s lost her sparkle. Shelly joined the “Razzle Dazzle” revue in 1987 (two years before “Baywatch” debuted on TV), sacrificing everything — including the traditional duties expected of parents — to live her dream of performing on the Strip. More than three decades later, she struggles to keep up with the younger girls, whom she treats like adopted daughters. While Jodie (Kiernan Shipka) and Marianne (Brenda Song) are flexible enough to get other jobs, Shelly is knocked sideways when she hears from stage manager/old flame Eddie (an uncharacteristically gentle Dave Bautista, doing his best Kris Kristofferson) that the show is closing."

'Lee' Reviews: Kate Winslet Anchors Film that "struggles to match her sense of urgency"

         On September 27, 2024, Roadside Attractions and Vertical released 'Lee', which has received a mixed reception from critics, currently holding at 64% on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a Critics Consensus that reads, "Kate Winslet's gripping performance in the title role helps elevate Lee beyond its disappointingly conventional biopic trappings." The ensemble cast includes Kate Winslet, Andy Samberg, Marion Cotillard, Josh O'Connor, Andrea Riseborough, and Alexander Skarsgård. Read the full review round-up below.

        Joey Magidson of Awards Radar says, "Too many people have never heard of Lee Miller. In the past decade or so, the model turned war photographer began to get a moment in the sun, but it has taken until now for a biopic to come together. Now, we have one in Lee and it’s a throwback film, for better and worse. It’s elegant and stacked with strong actors, but with a sense of eating your vegetables that other biopics have been able to shake of late. The good outweighs the bad, but it’s close. Lee lives and dies with its lead performance. Watching Miller come to life through Kate Winslet, who also produces and truly shepherded this story into existence, is actually very compelling. She’s too good an actress not to ace this role, and she’s incredibly invested, but the overall project struggles to match her sense of urgency."

       G. Allen Johnson of San Francisco Chronicle notes, "Lee,” based on Antony Penrose’s biography of his mother, “The Lives of Lee Miller,” is an interesting look at an artist whose true importance, unfortunately, became apparent only many years after her death."

Photo by Felipe Bustilo on Unsplash

       Saskia Baron of The Arts Desk was less impressed, stating, "Anyone who has seen Lee Miller’s photographs – those taken of her in the 1920s when she was a dazzling American beauty, those she took as a World War Two photojournalist – and read about her extraordinary life will have thought: this will make a great biopic. Unfortunately, it’s precisely because those photographs have become so familiar that Lee was destined to be a frustrating film. We know what Miller looked like from the pictures taken of her by the likes of Edward Steichen, Man Ray, and David Scherman. It’s hard not to have those images in mind when watching the also familiar Kate Winslet portray Miller on screen. It's hard, as well, to be convinced by the movie, especially the 1977 scenes in which Winslet plays the 70-year-old Miller with none-too-subtle ageing make-up." Concluding, "The film’s biggest problem is the weary framing device that has a young man interviewing the ageing Miller about her life. Even the twist at the end, which reveals that the interviewer (played by Josh O’Connor with his trademark pout) isn’t some opportunistic journalist, doesn’t make these scenes work. It's best to stick to the excellent documentaries that have been made about Miller, her photographs, and the fascinatiing books about her written by Anthony Penrose, her son."

        Alex Sims of Time Out praises the film, stating, "As an argument for how urgent and powerful photography can be, and the debt we owe Miller for the lengths she went to take those images, Lee wins hands down."

'City of Dreams' Impresses Critics

Photo by Wyron A on Unsplash

         On August 30, 2024, Roadside Attractions releases 'City of Dreams', which has earned rave reviews from critics, currently holding at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the film, "Jesús, a young Mexican boy whose dreams of becoming a soccer star are shattered when he's trafficked across the border and sold to a sweatshop making fast fashion in downtown Los Angeles. Thrust into a world of exploitation and despair, he's forced to adhere to the grueling work schedule dictated by El Jefe, a boss who promises freedom for those who complete their quotas. Despite Jesús' hellish existence, he finds solace in Elena, a girl who was similarly betrayed and sold into slavery. When she goes missing and another co-worker Carlitos is severely beaten, Jesús realizes that the only way to save himself and the others is to fight back, even if it costs him his life." The ensemble cast includes Ari Lopez, Renata Vaca, Alfredo Castro, Paulina Gaitán, Jason Patric, and Diego Calva. But what did the critics say?

        Sebastian Zavala Kahn of Me gusta el cine writes, "It manages to show us a side of the textile industry that surely many people would like to ignore. It is not a traditionally entertaining experience, but one that, despite not being for everyone, is worth seeing." Adding, "Jason Patric’s Stevens repeatedly tries to investigate the house where Jesus works, and even gets close enough to the boy to nearly save him. But time and again, he is stopped by his superiors — when this kind of abuse is protected by the people in power, from the police captain to the town mayor, what can you do? “Dreamer’s” eventual response is a bit naïve, and could even feel like a surprisingly optimistic conclusion. But at least it allows the film to end in a satisfying way, as if to make up for all the suffering we’ve seen before."

       Lissete Lanuza Sáenz of Fangirlish notes, "Dreamer is not just a story that glorifies people’s perseverance through pain, it’s a story about bad circumstances and how people do their best to survive."

        Peter Gray of The AU Review praises the film, stating, "Sadly, but also quite truthfully, it’s a harsh drama that touches on the subjects of immigration, human trafficking, and one’s own determination in fighting for what’s right – even if that’s at the expense of your own existence." Continuing, "Given Dreamer‘s relentlessness in showcasing brutality (some of the imagery present is truly wince-inducing) this won’t be an experience for everyone.  It will obviously speak to immigrants and people of colour in a much more affective manner – a viewpoint I have no right in commenting on – but there’s still a universality to Ramchandani’s overall narrative in that fighting for your own freedom is a temperament we should all share."

       Thomas Stoneham-Judge of ForReel Movie News And Reviews says, "As one who admires when one-takes and first person filming are utilized effectively in film, the way Dreamer is filmed is the type of packaging for this story that greatly appealed to me as a viewer." Concluding, "As entertaining as portions of this film might be however, Dreamer is not for the faint of heart. With these glimmers of hope that Jesus clings to - the dream he has of being a soccer player, the relationship he develops with a female worker, and the plans he makes to escape - there is a deeply distressing side of the tale as well. Punishment in this environment is relentless, and Dreamer does not shy away from gruesome sequences of extreme abuse. Perhaps off putting to some, the choice to be explicit in the violence that ensues drives home the desperation of the situation Jesus and his fellow workers find themselves in."