By Elias Savada. The psychological story and claustrophobic/expansive landscape seem familiar, especially for fans of the series The Killing (2011-14) and Broadchurch (2013- ), recently watched locales where anyone and everyone might be guilty. Suspects (of something) are a-plenty in this return to Australian indie cinema, after a two-decade absence, by […]
A Debut Emerges: Rebels of the Neon God (1992)
July 7, 2015
By Paul Risker. As Rebels of the Neon God (1992) opens, one cannot help but be struck by the weighty feel of the images. It is perhaps something within the shot selection in Ming-Liang Tsai’s debut (now in release in the US), the framing and positioning of the actors in relation to the […]
The Suspense of Climate Change: Showtime’s Years of Living Dangerously
July 6, 2015
By John Duncan Talbird. The Showtime series Years of Living Dangerously is aware of how to make the unsexy topic of climate change both engaging and even suspenseful. Not surprising as two of its executive producers are action movie veterans, James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Each episode is split into […]
Escalation as Class Conflict in Damián Szifron’s Wild Tales
July 5, 2015
By William Repass. Newton’s Third Law does not hold sway in Argentine filmmaker Damián Szifron’s Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes, 2014). On the contrary, action leads only to overreaction, effect revenging itself on cause. Each of the six thematically interlocking shorts that comprise the film advances by means of escalation. In […]
Big Game (2015): Hi/Low Concept
June 28, 2015
By Elias Savada. If Oskari Kontio, the cautious, newly-minted 13-year-old boy that is half of the unusual buddy team in Big Game, were Jewish, he’s having one heck of a Bar Mitzvah day. Theme: Wilderness Action Adventure on wry. Finnish writer-director Jalmari Helander, in his English-language feature debut, is throwing […]
Slow Coen-esque West
June 27, 2015
By Elias Savada. John Ford’s nowhere to be found. Stagecoach (1939) has left the building. There’s also no widescreen, large-ensemble-driven Silverado (1985) on the golden western horizon. Slow West is the latest film that tries to reinvent a genre that has died off more times than John Wayne can remember. And he’s […]
Call Me Lucky: Bobcat, Crimmins, and American Culture
June 26, 2015
By Paul Risker. I was fortunate enough a few years back now to be in the opening night audience when Bobcat Goldthwait opened proceedings at the 14th installment of Film4 FrightFest. The electricity that he can radiate from that place upon the stage is a remarkable feat. Although I had the […]
Seeking the Intimate in The Overnight
June 25, 2015
By Paul Risker. Film cannot escape the inevitable measure of its worth – how close the pendulum of critical and spectatorial judgment swings towards success or failure. For some, the box office gross is the measure of success, while for others the subjective uncertainty of creative merit or the satisfying […]
PIXAR Goes Inside Out on Us
June 24, 2015
By Elias Savada. What’s PIXAR gonna dream up next? Something about singing taste buds, perhaps? How out this for a ticklish tale of palace intrigue: Spicy Salsa (Sofia Vergara), Dour Sour (Jim Parsons), Mr. Salty (Kevin Spacey), and Grace Bitter (Melissa McCarthy) band together in a scrumptious comedy about a […]
The Real Harry Lime: A Restoration of The Third Man (1949)
June 22, 2015
By John Duncan Talbird. What matters in that kind of role is not how many lines you have, but how few. What counts is how much the other characters talk about you. Such a star vehicle really is a vehicle. All you have to do is ride. —from This Is […]