Based on the trailer for Nathaniel Martello-White’s The Strays one could be forgive to thinking that the movie is very much like Jordan Peele movies like Us, which is to say a horror movie with either vague or overtly supernatural overtones. And it isn’t, not at all. The story revolves around a woman, Neve (Ashley […]
I have to admit that for awhile I was wondering if Aaron Morehead and Justin Benson (Resolution, Spring, The Endless, etc) had lost their touch because while I was blown away by Resolution (2012) each subsequent film I’ve seen from the pair seemed to drop in my esteem. And it wasn’t that the followups were […]
To be honest the only reason I rented Girl (2020) was because it turned up on iTunes for 99 cents (though the actress on the poster – Bella Thorne – with a hatchet certainly didn’t hurt it’s chances). I’m not entirely sure what I expected from the movie though being unfamiliar with Thorne – I’m […]
Stardust appears to chronicle the period of 1972-1974, when David Bowie assumed the persona of Ziggy Stardust, which considering how theatrical he was throughout that period seems particularly cinematic. Though for a moment let’s go to me growing up in, where it was not uncommon to see posters for Bowie’s The Man Who Fell to […]
Have you heard of the idea of “the magical negro?” The phrase revolves around the idea that oftentimes – less so now, I think – black people in movies are treated as almost magical beings, like leprechauns, dispensing folksy knowledge, wisdom and little else. It’s a dehumanizing way of depicting black people for directors that […]
The last season of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why premiered last week, and for a series that began around suicide it ends in a very life-affirming manner, with most of the characters moving on into an uncertain future though what always interested me is how this ever was a continuing series in the first place because […]
I’m not the greatest fan of subtitles. That being said I’ve been watching quite a few foreign movies lately and what I’ve learned is that they’re a necessary evil, especially if your other option is dubbing. Dubbing are the addition of audio (vocal) tracks, typically done after a movie is made to help it better […]
Christian’s Gudegast’s Den Of Thieves isn’t the sort of movie that breaks new ground. It is what it is, a well-acted ensemble police procedural starring Gerard Butler, Pablo Schrieber and Curtis Jackson. And that’s okay because when something works as well as this does you don’t need fancy gimmicks or showiness to get your point […]
2019’s Uncut Gems was for me a pleasant surprise–though the movie, due to it’s particularly dark subject matter–was not ‘pleasant’ in the typical sense of the word. That’s not to say that it isn’t worth seeing, but it’s very much adult in terms of its language, themes and sensibilities. The movie is a treatise on […]
Netflix’s The October Faction is based on a graphic novel–which I haven’t read–though I think it’s really interesting that they haven’t surrendered the comics space to Disney+ and DC Universe. Which reminds me, if Netflix is looking to adapt a property, why not consider Dark Horse’s Comics Greatest World franchise? Sure, it was canceled but […]
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