Blog

Coraline (dir. Henry Selick, 2009)- Review

"For parents looking to terrify and educate children in equal measure, this adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline is surely a good, if unpredictable, starting point. Rebellious and sceptical when she needs to be- in the name of self-preservation- Coraline marked the first in a wave of family 'dramas' where the villain is not some supernatural threat but generational trauma."

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Red Rocket (dir. Sean Baker, 2022)- Review

“The barrage of ‘shocking’ or provocative plot elements- porn, drugs, grooming, the Trump election- clash with a sly, building detachment in the viewer, as Baker wordlessly establishes industrial Texas as a primal, bizarre underworld. Shots recall the Wild West or post-apocalyptic disaster zones- at least until an obese woman rolls past on a mobility scooter.”

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The Batman (dir. Matt Reeves, 2022)- Review

“Like a middle-aged man clinging to a loveless marriage, The Batman tries to spice up grim reality with a dazzling array of costumes, gadgets, and open-minded younger women. Though enjoyable, these desperate measures also point to an unfixable shift in the superhero-audience relationship, where the patriotic Ubermensch of yore finds himself dominated by the unwashed masses.”

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The Truman Show (1998)- Review

"Imagine a time where your every move is surveilled, tracked, dished up to a bevy of advertisers slinging the latest lifestyle gizmo tailored to your specific need. The Truman Show envisioned all this and more- yet it still had the optimism to envision a world where individuality actually mattered."

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Blades of Glory (dir. Will Speck and Josh Gordon, 2007)

“The quintessentially American fear of accidentally mincing over the fine line between ‘macho’ and ‘gay’ — the terror of someone suddenly questioning the sweaty, towel-whipping locker room rituals that make the college quarterback into an Adonis — forms the heart of Blades of Glory’s comic premise.”

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Split (dir. M. Night. Shyamalan, 2016) — Review

“M. Night Shyamalan undulates manically between disaster and brilliance. Like a vintage kilo thrifter, the erstwhile writer-director scoops up flashy armfuls of filmic tat, veering wildly across genre and subject matter, traditionally effecting his trademark plot twist to turn the whole wobbling confection into a triumph.”

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