See cinema differently
Year: 1995 Director: Wong Kar Wai Stars: Leon Lai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Michelle Reis Literally sensational, the cinema of Wong Kar Wai is presently receiving a welcome shot of exposure here in the UK. In part thanks to the Criterion Collection release of eight of his films (I'm including The Hand) in a lavish, pricey, but essential …
Director: Nia DaCosta Stars: Teyonah Parris, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo It's been nearly 30 years since Bernard Rose's Candyman sent an ungodly swarm of bees looming over Chicago and, ultimately, much further afield. Being of a (wince) certain age, I can remember the buzz of Candyman in the playground. Kids daring one another to go …
Director: Leos Carax Stars: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg One imagines a future retirement home for provocateur filmmakers. Gaspar Noé is sat in the games room, muttering to himself and playing checkers with an imaginary opponent. Almodóvar is causing trouble in the canteen, trying to meddle in the daily dishes. And out in the …
Directors: Amel Alzakout, Khaled Abdulwahed Stars: Amel Alzakout While fleeing Syria by sea in 2015, the boat carrying Amel Alzakout capsized, plunging her and many other refugees into the water. Attached to her wrist, Alzakout's GoPro captured the event in full, and from a vantage point that we couldn't possibly have been afforded otherwise. Purple Sea …
Director: David Bruckner Stars: Rebecca Hall, Stacy Martin, Vondie Curtis-Hall Showing nationwide in multiplexes, The Night House isn't the easily-digested Friday night thriller it sorta kinda looks like it is. It's tougher than that. Moodier. Actually, downright morose. It takes you places and makes you think about depressing things. Death, mainly, and the paralysing fear that …
Its exceedingly easy to dismiss the Friday the 13th series. From Sean S Cunningham's 1980 original through to the trash-humping 2009 Marcus Nispel remake, the slasher series is about as disposable as franchise cinema gets, even in horror circles. There's no single outright masterpiece in the set, and even the hardcore fans of the series will …
Continue reading "Minutiae: Love in Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter"
Director: Michael Sarnoski Stars: Alex Wolff, Nicolas Cage, Adam Arkin While in the process of searching for his beloved truffle-hunting pig Apple, Rob (Nicolas Cage) visits an upmarket Portland restaurant with a 'concept'. The hook at Eurydice is the "deconstruction" of local cuisine; a dismantling of ingredients that attempts to create something new in the …
Director: Anthony Scott Burns Stars: Julia Sarah Stone, Landon Liboiron, Carlee Ryski There must be something in the water up in Canada. Certainly it seems to be the place to go for indie treats that blur the boundaries between science fiction and horror, and a new generation is gamely taking up the baton. We have …
Director: Jeanette Nordahl Stars: Sandra Gulberg Kampp, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Carla Philip Roder The gender politics of a small-time Danish crime family come under scrutiny in this assured directorial debut from Jeanette Nordahl; a punchy offering that opens with a car accident and ends on a scream. That description along with the film's title conjure …
Year: 1960 Director: Michelangelo Antonioni Stars: Monica Vitti, Lea Massari, Gabriele Ferzetti The first and possibly most notorious of Michelangelo Antonioni's landmark four-film cycle with Monica Vitti, L'Avventura (The Adventure) might just be the most radical movie of the 1960s. This considering stiff competition from the likes of Jean-Luc Godard, Andy Warhol and many besides. The film …
Director: Rodo Sayagues Stars: Stephen Lang, Madelyn Grace, Fiona O'Shaughnessy Around five years ago, Don't Breathe made a little bit of rumpus as a nasty home invasion movie with a twist. A bunch of youths broke into a dilapidated house to steal from a rumoured cash box, only to encounter Stephan Lang's ex-Navy Seal Blind Man …
Directors: Kristina Lindström, Kristian Petri With The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri attempt earnestly to make a documentary about the pitfalls of exploiting the vulnerable for the sake of making art. Yet, in the process, fall into the self-same trap. For modern audiences Björn Andresen is probably most recognisable as the …
Continue reading "Review: The Most Beautiful Boy in the World"
Year: 1959 Director: André de Toth Stars: Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, Tina Louise The Western is a vast country to travel, and I'll freely admit I've only seen a small part of it. But from what I have seen I'd happily call Day of the Outlaw the meanest. Even before the central threat of the …
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra Stars: Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Dwayne Johnson Now, ordinarily, you'd have to drag me to see a Disney picture based on an extant IP that also happens to be a theme park ride, but Jungle Cruise got me voluntarily. Why? Jaume Collet-Serra. Sure, he's better known these days as the for-hire guy …
Director: Janicza Bravo Stars: Taylour Paige, Colman Domingo, Riley Keough There are many great opening lines in literature, in plays, in music. Lines that get you on the hook. Think about how 'Heard It On The Grapevine' begins with "I bet you're wondering how I knew..." for instance. That shit's got you paying attention. Zola intends that …
The Lost Highway Hotel 