Director: Pedro AlmodóvarStars: Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Asier EtxeandiaAh, the autobiographical film from a recognised auteur. Is there anything more indulgent? Anything narrower in field? Of course, one might argue that any film from an auteur is, in a way, autobiographical; that a personal imprint is a personal imprint. Still, when a filmmaker draws the … Continue reading Review: Pain And Glory
Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre Stars: Matthias Schoenaerts, Bruce Dern, Gideon Adlon At the beginning of Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre's feature debut, on-screen text advises us that there are upwards of 100,000 wild mustangs roaming the United States, and that many of these are rounded up and captured; some sent to prisons to be broken by inmates, … Continue reading Review: The Mustang
Director: André Øvredal Stars: Zoe Margaret Colletti, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows The oral history of scary stories is delightful; spooky tales told around campfires, or whispered before stone fireplaces in creaky old cottages and mansions. The telling of these stories - dark fairy tales if you will - down the ages has a very romantic … Continue reading Review: Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
Director: Alexandre Aja Stars: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Cso-Cso Genre mainstay Alexandre Aja is no stranger to pitting man against an aquatic menace. Back in 2010, it was his gleefully trashy Piranha 3D that rocked and romped into movie theatres, trashing spring break way before Harmony Korine got a chance to, and giving bespectacled viewers … Continue reading Review: Crawl
Director: Ric Roman Waugh Stars: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Jada Pinkett Smith Seemingly made for the six people left who still think that 24 ought to be a thing, but with half the budget of a standard episode, Angel Has Fallen is the second sequel to silly but harmless action thriller Olympus Has Fallen. Industrial … Continue reading Review: Angel Has Fallen
Director: Christian Petzold Stars: Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer, Lilien Batman In spite of the elegant calm of his scenes and the stillness often viewed in his characters, there's a sense of urgency about the cinema of Christian Petzold. Chiefly this comes from his protagonists, who have a habit of restlessly seeking some form of safety … Continue reading Review: Transit
Director: Kirill Serebrennikov Stars: Teo Yoo, Roman Bilyk, Irina Starshenbaum Leto begins incredibly. Long, immersive tracking shots of teenage girls sneaking into a Leningrad rock gig in the early 80s, where all attendees are made to sit passively as the band go crazy. Dancing in seats is not permitted. Holding up signs is a no-no. … Continue reading Review: Leto
Director: Quentin Tarantino Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margaret Qualley Quentin Tarantino is a fan of stories. Tall ones. Stories with a shade of truth but... embellished, stretched out, shaggy 'round the edges. Anyone who's seen his Inglorious Basterds can attest to that. He prefers a romanticised version of history; one he can reshape. In … Continue reading Review: Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood
Stray dogs roam the Californian beaches. Among them strays Bonnie (Candice Rialson); a beautiful blonde, on the run from her domineering, violent and resentful brother. Raphael Nussbaum's 1973 grindhouse classic Pets will follow her through a triptych of sexually charged situations, as the film at large explores themes of possession. Spoilers ahead... Newly reissued in the … Continue reading The Sleazoid Life of Pets
I'll try not to go on. I'll try to be brief. But there are 100 films here, so this may run long, you understand? It's been five years since I last drew up a top films list on The Lost Highway Hotel (that list, in mockery of Empire magazine, ran to 301 films). A lot … Continue reading 100 Favourite Films – A Personal List
Director: Ali Abassi Stars: Eva Melander, Eero Milonoff, Sten Ljunggren Human beings are not synchronous with nature. We run rough-shot over it, we destroy it, or augment it, building machines, paving over it, slicing it up with our tribalism, dividing continents into nations via arbitrarily lines. Our sense of entitlement and ownership contorts nature's simplicity. … Continue reading Review: Border
Director: David Leitch Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Vanessa Kirby The promotional materials for Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw are something else. Cheaply green-screened face-offs to camera in which Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Shaw (Jason Statham) shit-talk one another while a whole load of rapidly cut nonsense explodes all around them. These promos said one … Continue reading Review: Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw
