With its bold colours, heightened melodrama and clunky dialogue, 'Strange Way Of Life (2023)' often feels like a parody of... itself, I guess. Those already accustomed to Pedro Almodóvar's work will recognise these elements, as well as the sincere camp aesthetic they contribute to. However, here it doesn't cohere as well as it typically does in the director's other movies. Perhaps his dialogue has always been this dodgy but, not being a native Spanish speaker, I haven't picked up on it; either way, even actors as good as Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal struggle to sell the dialogue here. Still, the piece operates on a kind of down-to-Earth unreality that just about works. A bigger issue is that the story just... ends. Like, almost in the middle of a sentence. It feels as though the screenplay was still being written when Yves Saint Laurent's production company called and offered a green light on the condition that filming started almost then and there, so Almodóvar put down his pen and picked up his viewfinder and shot what he had. There's a lot more that could have been done with this tale of long-burning, societally repressed romance; the ending feels like the midpoint of a much more affecting feature-length affair. Another smaller issue with the flick is that it's nowhere near as erotically charged as you may expect. Hawke and Pascal do a good job at conveying their barely hidden attraction for one another, and there's a sense of tragedy that underlines their once-flourishing relationship, but they display no real physical connection and the only time they get hot and heavy is in a flashback (when their characters are portrayed by younger actors). Their connection is believable, but not as fleshed out as it could have been. It's also remarkably tame if you're familiar with Almodóvar's earlier efforts. Ultimately, though, the piece is entertaining enough for what it is. It has a solid central story that's underexplored but interesting, and two strong lead performances that lend authenticity to the generally clumsy screenplay. It's not a bad effort, by any means. It's just not as moving, or fun, as I'd like it to be.

It's partially my fault that I disliked this film. I paid my $15 and about $17 for a drink and popcorn not knowing this was a short film. I like to see films without knowing anything about them in advance. But this film may have killed this notion for me after having it serve me well for 25 years.

This isn't a short film; it's an aborted film. Almodovar - who has provided queer filmgoers like myself much to cheer about throughout his career - utterly disappoints by setting up a fantastic premise - elaborating on it for 30 minutes - and then just ending it before it has a chance to resolve in any meaningful way. When the end credit came up - I though Almodovar was doing that Warholian trick - turned into genre by Dennis Hopper's "The Last Movie" and the recent film "Drive My Car" of putting the credits deep into the movie's begining. But nope - this was the end of the short film. I was shocked and angry. Worse - at the screening I attended in Austin - the short was followed by another Almodovar short called "The Human Voice" from 2020 with Tilda Swinton. As usual, the actress is amazing - but the plot and dialogue of this film is so cliched and tired, we've seen it a million times. And Aldomovar films it as some sort of homage to Lars Von Trier's "Dogtown," a film I absolutely despise.... - Then came a 40 minute interview with Almodovar where he discusses "Strange Way of Life" to the point of rendering the short film even more irrelevant - and he tells how he would end it if it were a feature film One of the most infuriating endings to a cinema visit I've had to endure since the 2010's. "A Strange Way of Life" is a strange way to make films: Abort the story when it gets most interesting - then do interviews that tell how the story ends. A sure signpost towards the death of brick and mortal cinemas if I have ever seen one.

Life is strange... While Pedro Almodovar, who should have quit cinema 10 years ago, is still opening at festivals, Xavier Dolan, who should have made films for another 30 years, is retiring.

I think the thing that best explains Xavier Dolan's quote, "Cinema is not worth the effort" is that these kinds of things play at festivals and people buy tickets for them.

What would change if there were two other actors instead of Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal?

Does this film look like the work of a filmmaker with 30 years of experience?

What criteria do festival selection committees have? How do they choose movies?

Xavier Dolan... The movie industry did not appreciate you.