Film Reviews, Interviews and Articles
Natalia Tena has crafted a career out of playing odd tertiary characters. From playing Tonks in the Harry Potter films to giving life to Osha in Game of Thrones, she’s known for her involvement with geek culture mainstays. But strip away the fluctuating neon hair and the dirty Wildling face and Tena is a true beauty and a massive talent – a fact proven by her absolutely knockout performance in Carlos Marques-Marcet’s superb 10,000 KM [review here]. Read More
The nature of interpersonal relationships in this second decade of the 21st century have changed significantly from those of the great romantic chamber piece films like Annie Hall or Before Sunrise. Though it’s now a rather boring truism that the internet has changed the way we interact with one another, it seems that non-science-fiction films are just beginning to dig into what this means; one of the first real stand-out attempts to capture this shift is 2013’s Her, in which a lonely man falls for the sexy-voiced operating system in his computer. We can now add 10,000 km to the list of films exploring what it means to be together but separate, attached, at times, only by an internet connection. Read More
After premiering at SXSW 2014 to rave reviews, Carlos Marques-Marcet‘s 10,000 KM has gone on to win the hearts and minds of festival filmgoers the world over. With a wide-spread limited release platform that sees 10,000 KM opening in 11 cities across the U.S. – a statistic that executive producer Pau Brunet called, “Pretty much a major release for this kind of movie,” With its weekend release to domestic theaters from New York to San Francisco, we’ve dredged up this year-old interview, one that’s aged like a fine wine. Read More
Tarsem Singh is an tough cookie to crack. On the one hand, he’s hailed as a visionary director; a masterful craftsman of colorful aesthetics and esoteric tone. And yet, his catalog of works is filled with laudable, though often graceless, misfires. From 2000’s J Lo-starrer The Cell to sword ‘n’ sandals CGI-fest Immortals (which seemed little more than 300-lite) and onward to his recent Snow White comedy Mirror Mirror, Singh hardly has one entry in his portfolio to unequivocally celebrate. Nor has he really delivered a true stinker. That trend continues in 2015 with a thinking man’s actioner that forgot the thinking man aspect with Self/Less.
At the beginning of James Kent’s Testament of Youth the Armistice has been signed and World War I is ending. Though our protagonist, Vera Brittain (Alicia Vikander) isn’t celebrating. As she makes her way through crowded London streets, she looks beaten down and dazed. By this point, the war has taken everything from her. In real life, Brittain became a Pacifist after experiencing the horrors of The Great War first-hand. Based on her memoir of the same name, Testament of Youth carries a strong anti-war message that Kent handles with subtlety and compassion. He slowly easing into Brittain’s tale, instead of starting with suffering right away. Keeping the focus squarely on Vera and her evolution as a character, he crafts a delicate and understanding biopic worthy of mild celebration. Read More
The horror film genre is so full of dumb teenagers making bad decisions one could all but populate a second planet (or country) with their low-grade stock. However The Gallows — yet another entry into the extensive found footage feature collection– may contain the dumbest teens of any horror movie. They’re massively dumb, completely unlikable and thin as tracing paper. They may as well be wearing big, bright neon signs that read: “Here I am! Kill me now!” Although, the movie itself—written and directed by Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing—isn’t much smarter. Read More
Early on in the documentary Amy, Nick Shymansky, friend and one-time manager of the titular soul singer, reflects upon a time before her fame when she was very nearly forced into rehab. There’s a sorrowful, what if tone to his recollection, as he imagines that just maybe if she had been treated for alcoholism before fame took hold of her life, things could have been different. Read More
The Deepest Cuts is a weekly invitation into some of the sleaziest, goriest, most under-explored corners of horror and cult film online. Every title will be streamable and totally NSFW. Whether it’s a 1960s grindhouse masterpiece, something schlocky from the 90s, or hardcore horror from around the world, these films are guaranteed to shock, disturb, tickle, or generally blow your mind.
A gnarly green claw reaching up and pushing aside a manhole cover. A fluke-like, decomposing face glimpsed in the reflection of a quarantine mask. A flash of bared teeth – sharp, fang-like chompers. These are the Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers (C.H.U.D.), living beneath the streets of Manhattan, thriving in the dank waste of modern society. And as long as they’re staying deep underground, attacking only the city’s least-wanted, it’s of little concern to city officials; but as the film’s opening demonstrates, the C.H.U.D.s are hungry, and they’re coming for average, above-ground citizens – and their little dogs, too. And, they’re awesome.
Wes Anderson and Richard Linklater –prominent writer/directors, Texas natives (both have roots in Houston) and coincidentally my two favorite humans. Their latest films were nominated for Best Motion Picture this year and, delving further, their careers have evolved at very similar rates, humbly paving the quaint dirt road that was the indie film scene in the ‘90s with Slacker and Bottle Rocket. Onward, they transitioned to tastemakers, acquiring cult followings with Dazed and Confused and The Royal Tenenbaums. With each film Anderson and Linklater make, their toolbox gets a little bigger without compromising their eclectic and pridefully offbeat styles, one vastly different from the other, yet hauntingly similar. Which leads to the question, who does it better?
In past Face/Offs, we’ve pitted directors Anderson and Linklater against each other, comparing their very best films, their tried-and-true indie gems. This week we’re taking a slight departure from the directors’ most known work, to their little known work, or at least less known. In this final installment to pit Anderson against Linklater, we ask “Who does other stuff better?” Read More
The great thing about Netflix is that it gives you a lot of TV and movie watching options. The bad thing about Netflix is that it gives you…a lot of TV and movie watching options. So many that it can be overwhelming. I’d guess around ninety percent of our time spent on Netflix is scrolling through thousands of movies and TV shows, before finally deciding on something three hours after you’ve first logged on. The aim of this column is to provide easily accessible Netflix suggestions based on a different focal point each week. Read More
