Director: Katharine O'Brien Stars: Juno Temple, Simon Pegg, Alexandra Daddario It was only this weekend just gone that I was lounging at home, revisiting itchy 2013 psychological thriller Magic Magic and wondering "where has Juno Temple gone?". Having impressed greatly in that movie and several others in the first half of the last decade, the … Continue reading Review: Lost Transmissions
It seems churlish to say, but for a little while there in the '00s, Hollywood horror movies got really... mean. In spite of Kevin Williamson's injection of post-modernist humour, the '90s weren't a vintage decade for the genre, at least, not in the West. This was kind of surprising, especially considering the pre-millennial tension that … Continue reading What About… House of Wax
Director: David Dobkin Stars: Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens It's been a long, shitty year and we're only halfway through this mutha. But enough good news; there's a new Will Ferrell comedy movie on Netflix. That's a little too snarky for my taste these days. Ferrell's comic stylings are well-established. Indeed, he's the Old … Continue reading Review: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Director: Olivier Assayas Stars: Edgar Ramírez, Ana de Armas, Penélope Cruz Olivier Assayas - a director with an extremely high-class filmography stretching back over the last 30 years - here makes a slight wobble as he returns to matters political. Wasp Network - available on Netflix following its Berlin premiere last year - sees Assayas … Continue reading Review: Wasp Network
Director: Marc Meyers Stars: Alexandra Daddario, Amy Forsyth, Maddie Hasson I have to confess; obnoxious as it may have seemed to some/most, I have a soft spot for illogical 3D cheese-fest Texas Chainsaw from the early '10s. It's one of my comfort blanket movies. Bright and dumb enough to sustain me when I want to switch … Continue reading Review: We Summon The Darkness
Director: Nimrod Eldar Stars: Menashe Noy, Zohar Meidan, Sarit Vino-Elad Methods of communication are at the heart of this handsome Israeli debut from filmmaker Nimrod Eldar. Yoram (Menashe Noy) is a 50-year-old veterinarian and recent widower who is having trouble relating to his teenage daughter Roni (Zohar Meidan). She disappears for days or comes home … Continue reading Review: The Day After I’m Gone
Director: Spike Lee Stars: Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Chadwick Boseman First, a little bit of business Before I get to my thoughts on the film, here are links to reviews written by Black film critics that I've found elsewhere with a quick search. Leila Latif for Little White Lies Odie Henderson for RogerEbert.com Kambole Campbell … Continue reading Review: Da 5 Bloods
Year: 1997 Director: Jim Gillespie Stars: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe There are movies that I've included in this series based on their artistic prowess, on their merit, on their phenomenal influence on the medium of film and my experience of it. And then there are other movies. I'm not a fan … Continue reading Why I Love… #117: I Know What You Did Last Summer
Year: 1969 Director: Paul Mazursky Stars: Natalie Wood, Elliott Gould, Robert Culp I've recently been listening to a lot of Talking Heads, which has nothing to do with Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. The art-pop band came into being some years after Mazursky's semi-obscure film, the two do not intersect. And yet, it has been through … Continue reading Why I Love… #116: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Director: Ena Sendijarević Stars: Sara Luna Zoric, Lazar Dragojevic, Ernad Prnjavorac Another week, another COVID-19-tainted home viewing experience. In this case the film's very name. Take Me Somewhere Nice. That sounds pretty good right now. The simple things we took for granted. Travelling. Company. A casual life. For me the title also echoes fondly with … Continue reading Review: Take Me Somewhere Nice
Director: Pedro Costa Stars: Vitalina Varela, Ventura, Manuel Tavares Almeida A new Pedro Costa film invites excitement and intimidation in those fond of world cinema and the art-house. His work can appear impenetrable, linked as it so often is with a very particular and specific cultural identity; that of Portugal's black community and its storied … Continue reading Review: Vitalina Varela
Year: 1968 Director: Kaneto Shindô Stars: Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kiwako Taichi For the better part of the last century, cats have had a bad run of things when it comes to horror cinema. Whether you look back to the Val Lewton produced Cat People of 1942 or the various iterations of Poe's The Black Cat that … Continue reading Why I Love… #115: Kuroneko
Year: 1955 Director: Nicholas Ray Stars: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo Uff, what more is there to say about Rebel Without A Cause? Somewhere in the recesses of my laptop is a list of prospective titles for this occasional series, and there are titles on that list that absolutely terrify me. They're the most talked … Continue reading Why I Love… #114: Rebel Without A Cause
Director: Alice Wu Stars: Leah Lewis, Alexxis Lemire, Daniel Diemer Alice Wu understands the rules of both the romantic comedy and the youth movie. Combining both in The Half Of It, she has researched and employed the most enduring trope and source of dramatic tension that these genres lean on; The Lie. Ellie Chu (Leah … Continue reading Review: The Half of It
Director: Pablo Larraín Stars: Mariana Di Girolamo, Gael García Bernal, Santiago Cabrera Pablo Larraín's most well-known features of the last decade have all delved into the past and into politics, be that through the lens of activism (2012's No) or personal trauma (2016's Jackie). Now, the Chilean returns to the present for this fierce portrait of … Continue reading Review: Ema
