Director: Lucrecia Martel Stars: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lola Dueñas, Mariana Nunes It's been a decade since Lucrecia Martel stirred art house audiences with the quietly provocative The Headless Woman, but following a handful of shorts and a documentary, she returns to feature filmmaking with Zama, an absurdist sideswipe at colonialism. Daniel Giménez Cacho stars as Don Diego de … Continue reading Review: Zama
Director: Ron Howard Stars: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke "Everybody stick to the plan. Do not improvise." So says Woody Harrelson's smuggler Tobias Beckett (the least Star Wars-y named character to appear in Star Wars yet), and its a line that rings with considerable pathos for what might've been. It's no secret that Solo originally fell into … Continue reading Review: Solo – A Star Wars Story
Year: 1959 Director: Joseph L Mankiewicz Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift This essay will contain plot spoilers. It's been 59 years since the film came out, but still, consider yourself warned. Released in 1959 to mixed - if not downright negative - reviews, Joseph L Mankiewicz's exaggeration of a short Tennessee Williams play … Continue reading Why I Love… #94: Suddenly, Last Summer
Director: David Leitch Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Zazie Beetz Maybe its simply Marvel fatigue (even if Deadpool is kinda tangential; not part of the 'MCU', whatever). Maybe its the lasting shadow of the two triumphs we've already received in this overstuffed year; the heavyweight Black Panther and the still-fresh Avengers: Infinity War. Or maybe it's that aggressive … Continue reading Review: Deadpool 2
Director: Coralie Fargeat Stars: Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombe Of all of horror's myriad subgenres, the rape revenge film is one of the most troubling and misunderstood, in part because the films themselves divide distinctly from one another. Calling attention to all the most negative connotations are movies which treat the abuse … Continue reading Review: Revenge
Director: Jason Reitman Stars: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston During one of the many quietly perfect scenes in Lost In Translation, Scarlett Johansson's Charlotte and Bill Murray's Bob lie side-by-side on a hotel bed at the end of a long night of partying. Barriers down, Bob talks wistfully about parenthood. "Your life, as you know … Continue reading Review: Tully
Year: 1996 Director: Olivier Assayas Stars: Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Nathalie Richard There are some songs you can't separate from the movies they close. I'm not talking about songs that are edited to action within the story, but rather the moment it all ends and the credits crash in and a song plays. And that … Continue reading Why I Love… #93: Irma Vep
Director: Johannes Roberts Stars: Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, Lewis Pullman Ten years ago, Brian Bertino's home invasion horror movie The Strangers caught justified attention for its sleek minimalism and its abrupt and nihilistic conclusion. Now seems like a suspicious time to mount a sequel. The first film has long cooled off and everyone's pretty much moved … Continue reading Review: The Strangers: Prey At Night
