If someone were to make a film that occurs at the precise intersection between film noir and gothic horror, it would probably look very much like Joseph H. Lewis’ masterful mystery, My Name Is Julia Ross. A tight and economical thriller that features a bevy of remarkable performances, a very simple story that is executed…
Wounds (2019)
Will (Armie Hammer) is a bartender at a dive bar somewhere in New Orleans. His job is simple but he enjoys the work – serving the same set of regulars that become like a family always seemed to appeal to him, and he seemed to lack broader ambitions, with the opposite being true for his…
Don’t Think Twice (2016)
Independent comedies normally tend to be very much hit-and-miss, but they normally err towards being relatively entertaining, even when they aren’t all that original. As someone who rarely encounters a quirky comedy I didn’t like, it takes a lot for me to be disappointed with a film that tries to deviate from mainstream comedy –…
The Art of Self-Defense (2019)
Every now and then, someone manages to capture the zeitgeist just long enough in a cinematic form to create something unique and entirely original, yet still very reflective of not only the society we live in but also the ideals that define it. Riley Stearns, in his sophomore feature film, takes on a very strange…
Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)
Minnie Moore (Gena Rowlands) is a mild-mannered museum curator who suffers from intense social anxiety and constantly refuses to put herself out in the world (especially after her lover decided to end their relationship), seeing life as something that has been sold to everyone as being far more easy than it actually is. Seymour Moskowitz…
Gumshoe (1971)
Gumshoe is the kind of film that had so much potential and squandered nearly all of it. The directorial debut of Stephen Frears, this muddled and convoluted attempt at satire failed almost entirely, never quite finding the right balance between the genres it was trying to work in, nor managing to live up to the…
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
John Schlesinger had a way with humanity. In all of his films, he demonstrated how he had a firm pulse on the nature of existence, an intricate understanding of the human condition that very few filmmakers, even those who dedicated their entire lives to realism, were ever able to convey. While remembered mainly for Midnight…
A New Leaf (1971)
When it comes to being rich without any effort, no one is better than Henry Graham (Walter Matthau), a very wealthy man who has never worked a day in his life, living off his vast inheritance and wasting his fortune through his excessive tendencies. However, this can’t go on for much longer, as he soon…
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) is a young man living in a small town in working-class Texas. He’s a quiet boy, normally spending his days driving his pickup truck, attending school, playing sport and finding solace in one of three local institutions that become like home to him – a pool-hall run by the enigmatic but sympathetic…
Parasite (2019)
Bong Joon-ho continues to push the boundaries of cinema, with every new production becoming an event all on its own. His career has consisted of a few films in which he has consistently challenged what we perceive narrative fiction to be, taking on various subjects through his own unflinching commitment to representing a different side…
The Postmodern Pelican 