Movie Review: I’m Still Here


On March 2, 2025 a 60 Minutes broadcast a segment called, “Death Flight” – a story about Argentina in the 1970s where political prisoners were murdered by flying over the Atlantic Ocean and dropping them 10 thousand feet from a plane – to make sure that they were never found. The movie “I’m Still Here”, one of this year’s 10 Academy Award-nominated films, is about a similar dictatorship in Brazil in the 1970s where the government arrested people for no reason, held them prisoner for years, or murdered them, including the method of dropping them into the Atlantic Ocean.

I’m Still Here is about a family living in Argentina in the 1970s when one day, the Argentina goverment walked into their house and arrested the father, Rubens Paiva, played by Selton Mello, for no reason, lying to the family telling them they were just going to question him and Rubens would be back soon. The family never saw Rubens again. A few days later the Argentinan government arrested Rubens wife Eunice Paiva, played by Fernanda Torres, and questioned her in prison for weeks, they were eventually returned. The rest of this story is about the family trying to find out, for many years, what happened to Rubens Paiva, that at times can seem rather boring. The acting is outstanding with Fernanda Torres receiving a best actress Oscar nomination and the film receiving the Best International Film Oscar.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 97% is too high, with my rating at 85% and a solid recommendation.

Oscar Winners: 2024


This year was relatively weak in terms of the quality of the top ten movies. Demi Moore not winning Best Actress was extremely unusual, based on her winning every previous movie award before the Oscars telecast – which almost never happens. Conan O’Brien was outstanding as the host, and he should be selected to host again next year. The movie Anora was not widely released and was another big surprise for Best Picture.

Best picture

“Anora” – *WINNER

“The Brutalist”

“A Complete Unknown”

“Conclave”

“Dune: Part Two”

“Emilia Pérez”

“I’m Still Here”

“Nickel Boys”

“The Substance”

“Wicked”

Best actor in a leading role

Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist” – *WINNER

Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”

Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”

Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”

Sebastian Stan, “The Apprentice”

Best actress in a leading role

Mikey Madison, “Anora” – *WINNER

Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”

Demi Moore, “The Substance”

Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here”

Best actor in a supporting role

Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain” – *WINNER

Edward Norton, “A Complete Unknown”

Guy Pearce, “The Brutalist”

Jeremy Strong, “The Apprentice”

Best actress in a supporting role

Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez” – *WINNER

Monica Barbaro, “A Complete Unknown”

Ariana Grande, “Wicked”

Felicity Jones, “The Brutalist”

Isabella Rossellini, “Conclave”

Best director

Sean Baker, “Anora” – *WINNER

Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist”

James Mangold, “A Complete Unknown”

Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez”

Coralie Fargeat, “The Substance”

Best original screenplay

“Anora” – *WINNER

“The Brutalist”

“A Real Pain”

“September 5”

“The Substance”

Movie Review: Last Breath


The new movie “Last Breath” is about the people in this world, who risk their lives to make a living. This true story is about three men who dive deep into the Ocean to repair gasoline pipes and are lowered to bottom of the Ocean in a giant container from a large ship. At the beginning of this movie, we are told that this is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. After watching this film, it was hard to believe that anyone could be brave enough or crazy enough to work a job like this given that the odds of death are so high.

Last Breath stars Woody Harrelson as Duncan Allock, one of the lead divers, Simu Liu as Dave Yuasa, and Finn Cole as Chris Lemons, the main focus of this story as the diver lost at the bottom of the Ocean. This true story was made into a movie because of the miracles that occurred while the crew of the diving ship first located and then attempted to save the life of Chris Lemons. The downside is that most of the searching for Lemons, and getting him back on board the ship was that this part of the story was at times rather slow and boring.

I was surprised during this story that given the extreme danger, the crew would attempt to travel to the bottom of the Ocean at night, during a storm. During this true story, it was shown that the storm was causing violent movements within the submersible container as the men were diving. It made no sense that a decision was not made to wait until daytime and when conditions were safer. I was also surprised that known actors Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu would agree to take these acting roles, considering the conditions involved and the extremely close quarters that are not for anyone even slightly claustrophobic.

The Rotten Tomatoes has an average of 77% with my rating at 72% and a mild recommendation to see this film mostly for the miracles involved in trying to save Chris Lemons.