Hereditary (2018)
Ari Aster’s Hereditary delivers gut-wrenching terror which builds like a gathering storm, slowly digging into the darkest recesses of our nightmares. It’s not for the faint of heart. From the outset, Hereditary creates a dreaded sense of uncertainty, serving up shock moments and constantly playing games with our own perceptions. It is a glorious, nail-biting art-horror film. The focus […]
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Blue Ruin (2014)
Jeremy Saulnier’s low-budget revenge thriller, Blue Ruin is a masterclass in suspense, visceral action and dark melodrama. With expressive performances and a stripped-down style, it’s an intelligent vigilante story. Macon Blair stars as Dwight Evans, an emotionally damaged vagrant, who lives out of his car and scavenges for food and money. He is seemingly so […]
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The Party (2017)
Unassuming and darkly funny, The Party offers brilliant, time-bomb entertainment. It’s a sharp, finely crafted movie shot in black-and-white and thole whole thing is enjoyably ridiculous. The Party in question is brought together by Janet (Kristen Scott Thomas), a politician and her cranky husband Bill (Timothy Spall). Their guests include a smooth-talking financer, Tom (Cillian Murphy), who […]
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Mother! (2017)
Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! is an experimental horror film unlike any other and quite comfortably earns the “it’s not for everyone” tag. If you’re seeking conventionality, don’t even bother watching Mother!. It’s jam-packed with shocking imagery and possesses a nightmare quality. When Mother! was released last year, pretty much everyone came away with their own interpretation. The most prominent conversation was about […]
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GOAT (2016)
When you think of college or teen movies, most of the names that come to mind are slapstick comedies like 22 Jump Street and American Pie. These films bring you easy laughs and take no effort to watch. Goat takes a different, more serous approach. It offers a darker and harsher look into American college life. Since we don’t […]
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Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
Why make your film linear when you can flit between past and present, and leave audiences crying “Wait, what?” Martha Marcy May Marlene has a free-moving timeline that messes with your head, and it’s completely absorbing. It’s a tense, oppressive movie with one of the most difficult titles to remember, at least after you see the film. […]
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Carlito’s Way (1993)
Ten years after Brian De Palma and Al Pacino made Scarface, they came back with Carlito‘s Way, another gangster epic and classic action-thriller. Carlito Brigante is much quieter and wiser than the raging Tony Montanna in Scarface, but he still chases a dream with a speeding bullet right behind him. Carlito’s dream, however, isn’t a pot of cocaine or power and wealth, like […]
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Race (2016)
Race is the true story of Jesse Owens, one of the greatest athletes in track and field history. He smashed records and won four gold medals: 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4 x 100-meter relay. Quite simply, Owens is a sporting legend. This film is a fine account of Owens’ life and achievements, as […]
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Kodachrome (2018)
Netflix’s Kodachrome is a film for a lazy Sunday, and I mean you could probably snooze through parts of it, wake up and still get the gist of what’s going on. That’s not a critique of the film itself because it does an awful lot with a familiar story. For its by-the-numbers plotting, Kodachrome serves as a sweet throwback […]
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The Life of the Mind: A Look at Barton Fink
“I’ll show you the life of the mind!” – Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) Barton Fink is a film with myriad meanings. Its elements are so diverse it defies genre classification. Is it a comedy drama? A period piece? Thriller? It’s strange, but it grows on you over the course of many unnerving scenes. After all, this […]
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Fury (2014)
It’s April 1945. The war is almost over and the Allies are making their final push into battle-torn Germany. Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Brad Pitt) commands a tank nicknamed “Fury” and its veteran crew. These men have all been together since the North African Campaign two years earlier, so they’re brothers in arms, ready to fight until the bitter end. Private […]
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The Beguiled (2017)
The most surprising thing about Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled is that it’s so straightforward. It tells a simple story of a repressed group of girls and women in Virginia during the Civil War. These ladies live in a war-abandoned boarding school on the fringes of society. Martha Farnsworth (Nicole Kidman) runs the household and doesn’t take any […]
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