Dodgy game action sequences aside, Oliver Stone’s ode to sports drama and hedonism is an editing tour de force, there’s no denying. But does it deserve to be praised as genre defining, is the question. In a film that covers possibly all the dynamics and forces exerted on a modernContinue Reading
Dearth is the scourge of the inquisitive mind, and honest reviews of the seminal movie from Saudi Arabia were hard to come by. I’ve checked. In the year between it making the rounds and my having watched it, I was perturbed by the unanimous acclaim thrown its way. Nothing isContinue Reading
The McDonagh brothers of Irish cinema are both the antithesis of and spiritual successors to the Coen brothers. They may produce their own separate work. But they each retain much of the hallmarks of a similar formula by the Coens — that of a wit- and dialogue-driven, dark humor narrative.Continue Reading
Starring Elijah Wood Fitting quite a few notable criteria the American Psychiatric Association would deem typical in many a serial killer — male, loner, targets females, same race — Maniac the reboot does well by avoiding trappings of the genre. Effectively, this contains it firmly within the slasher sub-genre, aContinue Reading
Holy mother of Jesus. In Hollywood, insipidity seems to get redefined on a continual basis. And, to the chagrin of plenty, business is good. It has got to be, seeing the demand to churn out movies of the ilk is alive and well. It is not that The Outsider isContinue Reading
For an evocative exercise in imagery, Days of Heaven is both surprisingly and expectedly short in equal measure. It is worth noting that while not heavy on scenic diorama, it is light on dialogue and action also. The former is expressed with the help of deliberate editing, sending the filmContinue Reading
The politically-charged No from Pablo Larraín is a welcome nudge for today’s activists to reflect back on a catalytic period in Chilean history — the 1988 referendum. After 16 years of military dictatorship under General Pinochet, the ruling bodies succumbed under international pressure to reform, and issued a proposal. YesContinue Reading
In the public bathroom where I work are four mirrors, with washing sinks below three. The nearest mirror to the door hangs over what remains of the removed sink; the grouting and makeshift piping. Standing in front of that mirror is more convenient. The reflection off it just seems moreContinue Reading
Given the shortest of notices going in, expectations were the least of my moviegoing prejudices with Snowpiercer. With no prior knowledge of the movie whatsoever, and too little time between finishing lunch and catching Oculus, I took an atypical leap of faith and went by hunch. That and a curiouslyContinue Reading
