By Amy R Handler. Quentin Dupieux’ (a/k/a musician, Mr. Oizo) newest feature about a rogue tire-turned-serial killer and obsessed stalker, is everything cinema should be, but more often is not. A TIRE? you ask. Yes. You heard correctly, and believe it or not there’s enough in this 82-minute powerhouse to […]
Inner Realism, Danish Style
By Amy R Handler. Many filmmakers have explored the inner world of performers, but few do it as masterfully as Danish director Martin Zandvliet (Angels of Brooklyn). Teamed with actor extraordinaire, Paprika Steen (Okay), their feature Applause (Applaus, 2009) is nothing short of remarkable. Told from the perspective of Thea […]
When We Leave (2010)
By Amy R Handler. When We Leave (Die Fremde, 2010) is a simple art house drama that packs a huge socio-political wallop. It is one of those rare and tricky films where all its component parts seem to work against each other, but really move as fluidly as a well […]
Darkness in Detroit: Vanishing on 7th Street
By Amy R Handler. Perhaps it’s no small coincidence that Canadian Horror King, Brad Anderson’s Vanishing on 7th Street (2010) takes place in Detroit, Michigan. Once considered the automotive Mecca of the world, the great Motown is now the most economically crippled city in the United States. Not surprisingly, the […]
A Raid on Nothing: Genre and Polanski’s Cul-de-sac
By Matthew Sorrento. Knife in the Water was a rare kind of debut. The 1962 Polish film brought Roman Polanski international acclaim, earning him an Academy Award nomination and a spot on the cover of Time magazine, where the release represented a new wave of foreign cinema. The accolades were […]
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
By Steven Harrison Gibbs. In October of 2009, Lionsgate’s protracted Saw franchise was nearing its end. With the sixth installment marking the lowest point of its steadily diminishing returns, it was all too apparent that horror fans were growing weary of Jigsaw and his elaborate, grotesquely violent traps. Meanwhile, Paramount […]
She Monkeys (2011)
By Salomon Rogberg. Swedish film director Lisa Aschan has said that a western is about sex, power and animals, but also what it means to be a man. In She Monkeys (2011) men are replaced with women, there’s no explicit and bloody violence or any sex, but the story is driven […]
Melancholia (2011)
By Janine Gericke. Lars von Trier’s Melancholia opens with an achingly slow motion shot of Kirsten Dunst, looking drenched and disturbed as birds tumble from the sky behind her. As the audience stares, hushed and humbled, Wagner’s Tristan and Islode – brought to life by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra – saturates the scene. This is the end […]
The Future (2011)
By Jacob Mertens. When we are young, we are told that we can do anything with our lives. We feel our path unfold before us, a wide expanse of possibility. However, as we get older that very freedom can become frightening, and we yearn for something calm and simple. In […]
Drive (2011)
By Jacob Mertens. Moving towards an aggressive theater launch, Drive has featured a lot of dizzying, full throttle marketing ploys that suggest Hollywood escapist thrills. The poster is all grit and masculine energy, Rotten Tomatoes has posted an interview claiming that Drive is Ryan Gosling’s “superhero movie”[1], and the trailers […]