Backcountry is a well-acted film with a familiar premis
Foxcatcher chronicles the tragic partnership of multi-m
Hell hath no fury like a fairy whose wings have been
Based on the Irvine Welsh novel of the same name, and typical of its author’s material, Filth offers a cynical, corrupt world replete with sexual emasculation and a seemingly endemic Scottish self-hatred. Anyone familiar with Trainspotting should recall that Scotland is not even good enough to be filled with Wankers. Instead they’re a country “colonized by Wankers.” […]
Ivory Tower is a documentary that exposes the perils of investing so much money in higher education. At that same time, it fosters credence in the faulty belief that everyone should attend college. There are moments within that offer alternative arteries to education. One is at an isolated “college” in an agrarian setting in California. The other […]
In Jamie Marks is Dead, the tone throughout is different. The film begins with the discovery of a body, and the discoverer seems less disturbed than shocked by what she has stumbled upon. Adapted from the Young Adult-genre novel, One for Sorrow, written by Christopher Barzak, Jamie Marks is Dead explores the disparate values that we put […]
The first viewing of Under the Skin, impressed me with its pacing and it ominous tone. It’s a thriller / horror film without a clearly motivated killer. The unnamed femme fatale from another part of our or some other galaxy (Scarlett Johansson) trolls around Scotland, seeking out lonely, forsaken, and single men. What Under the Skin makes […]
The Lego Movie is a brilliant cliché. The story is far from novel as we follow average construction worker Emmitt on his journey to be relevant. Much like an animated version of The Matrix, The Lego Movie’s easy-to-assemble Neo’s most formidable enemy is his own self-doubt and the resonating skepticism from those that surround him. This lifting […]
In Tony Scott’s second of four films with Denzel Washington, he explores the body through the politics of safety. A note at the beginning of the film informs us that “There is one kidnapping every 60 seconds in Latin America.” 70% of the victims do not survive. This is predominately true in Juarez, Mexico, a city that […]
Nymphomaniac Vol. 2 continues with the foreseeable consequences within any film that deals with the trope of addiction. Joe is, inevitably, going to try to find a higher high – or in this case a resurgent orgasm – and ultimately hit rock bottom, both of which she does. However, there are moments within this second installment that […]
In Kill Bill, Vol. 1, Tarantino offered an homage to kung fu films, showing how easily they translate into American cinema, particularly the super hero genre, wherein a hero is created by circumstance. The Bride (Uma Thurman) is shot in the head on her wedding day and her child in utero is taken from her. When we […]
Lars Von Trier’s Nyphomaniac Vol. I is, unfortunately, disappointing. Perhaps it’s because it comes on the heels of astonishingly profound films like Antichrist and Melancholia. Certainly, the former has been misunderstood as misogynistic propaganda with a load of shock value and the latter has been largely dismissed because of a comment about the Nazi aesthetic being taken […]
As the title suggests, Behind the Candelabra, in part, is about deception. The archetype for twentieth-century flamboyance, Liberace (Golden Globe winner Michael Douglas), refuses to age in front of his audience with the aide of numerous plastic surgeries, wigs, and makeup. His lover cum adopted son – sorta – convinces himself that he is the only one […]
