Review: Edgar Wright’s ‘Last Night in Soho’
“The multifaceted, nuanced quality of music is vital to ‘Last Night in Soho,’ in which people aren’t so easily defined.”
The Spice Must Flow – Review: Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’
“Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune: Part One’ is a worthy addition to the collection, besting the Lynch film in certain ways but still flummoxed and frustrated by the source material’s conversation-heavy downside.”
Julia Ducournau’s ‘Titane’: Influence, (Sur)Realism and the Avant-Garde
“Ducournau’s approach to cinematic lineage and influence in ‘Titane’ is a complicated one, as she develops her singular filmmaking style into something even more evasive and intricate than in ‘Raw.'”
London Film Festival Review: Joanna Hogg’s ‘The Souvenir Part II’
“Like its predecessor, ‘The Souvenir Part II’ is defined by its open spaces; the silences in conversation, the gap between ‘action’ and ‘cut,’ the clouds between the memory of how something happened, and the reality of it.”
A Star Is Torn: ‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’ at 10
“‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’ opines that it’s sometimes better to give up trying to fix somebody, rather than forcing them into a breakdown, particularly in instances when the source of their trauma isn’t completely clear.”
Review: David Gordon Green’s ‘Halloween Kills’
“‘Halloween Kills’ may not be to everybody’s tastes, but there’s a reason for that ‘kills’ in the title, beyond attention-grabbing marketing. The word refers not just to Michael himself but the rot at the core of Haddonfield…”
Review: Ridley Scott’s ‘The Last Duel’
“The ‘cinematic’ moviegoing experience is gradually taking shape once more, not just the notion of spectacle, but stimulation of the mind and conscience.”
Review: Maureen Bharoocha’s ‘Golden Arm’
“Holland and Sodaro are so effortlessly good together, their characters evoking the kind of visual contrast unforgettably rendered by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy…”
Collecting Movies with Anthony Strand
Anthony Strand Interview: A conversation about movie collecting with Vague Visages contributor Greg Carlson.
Review: Banjong Pisanthanakun’s ‘The Medium’
“‘The Medium’ is arguably the horror movie of the year, one that should be seen on the biggest screen possible.”
On ‘The Guard’ and the Built-In Charisma of Brendan Gleeson
“There is no analytical framework to guide audiences towards a hollow understanding of raw talent. Gleeson’s charisma is built-in, like all legendary performers, and this is most evident when his characters behave despicably.”
London Film Festival Review: Sean Baker’s ‘Red Rocket’
“‘Red Rocket’ is Baker’s strongest work to date, a film much smarter (and far funnier) than its provocative synopsis would suggest.”
London Film Festival Review: Pablo Larraín’s ‘Spencer’
“There is a general sense of otherworldliness that feels enrapturing in ‘Spencer,’ even if Larraín stumbles while addressing the heavier themes.”
The Grit of an Underdog: On Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Gully Boy’
“‘Gully Boy’ has as much heart as it does energy, and skillfully manages to avoid being a formulaic tearjerker about a poor boy from the slums.”
Review: Alan Taylor’s ‘The Many Saints of Newark’
“Despite a variety of shortcomings that encompass eye-rolling fan-service lollipops and unresolved narrative threads, there is much to savor in ‘The Many Saints of Newark.'”
Review: ‘V/H/S/94’
“‘V/H/S/94’ is a thoroughly decent installment despite its relatively slight nature. It’s a film which invites the audience to have a lot of fun but keeps an air of spooky credibility intact…”
Review: Ting Poo and Leo Scott’s ‘Val’
“Kilmer’s personal observations and insights are always engaging in ‘Val’ and occasionally yield details and particulars that allow viewers to peek behind the curtain of fame.”
Review: Clint Eastwood’s ‘Cry Macho’
“While ‘Cry Macho’ succeeds with the set-up character scenes, it fails with its overall execution.”
Fear God: Kevin Smith’s ‘Red State’ Hits Even Harder at 10
“‘Red State’ boasts a starry cast, but Smith’s story is ruthlessly contained, captured with a grainy texture, and presented like a true no-budget indie horror, with bursts of shocking violence punctuating the tense atmosphere.”
TIFF Review: Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s ‘Earwig’
“The magic of Hadzihalilovic’s ‘Earwig’ comes in the form of its suggestion that viewers abandon their expectations and preconceptions about what cinema should be and what a story can be.”