“‘Krampus’ is the pinnacle anti-Christmas movie in the way it thrives on the sheer awfulness of the holiday. It is ugly, it is unpleasant, and it is still utterly festive in the fact that it embraces the nature of the season as it has always been.”
“Movies aren’t proverbs — their morals are questionable, their questions are impossible to answer. This is the case for good films, at least.”
“Fargeat is almost saying, ‘well, if you want to look at her, you must look at her no matter her condition.’ It is a grotesque way of calling out the male gaze, but it is an effective one.”
“Blowback occurs when policymakers fail to take into account the far-reaching ramifications of their actions.”
“The ‘Predator’ franchise is a repository of the fears that plague the powerful. The context changes, but the fear persists — the fear that the conqueror may one day become the conquered.”
“‘Red Sparrow’ is no feminist masterwork — far from it. However, in its depiction of a male world full of predators — a patriarchal system constructed to oppress, exploit and then discard women — perhaps it offers a valuable first step towards that badly needed change.”
“Unlike its modern genre contemporaries, ‘Deep Blue Sea’ takes itself seriously, creating genuine fear and tension from the characters’ perilous situation.”
“When it comes to sheer quantity of triple-crosses, double agents, remote control gizmo toys, one-liners, stunts and rubber mask fake outs, ‘Mission: Impossible — Fallout’ outdoes its predecessors. The big question now, however, is whether the longevity of this franchise is finally taking its toll on the overall quality.”
“The ‘Phantasm’ films may be the best and most consistent source for on-screen existential terror, and their dream logic that allows for numerous interpretations keeps them endlessly watchable.”
“Clean and sleek Jet Age Futurism bleeds into every nook and cranny of ‘Incredibles 2’ — so much so that Bird seems to be saying ‘this is what we should have been doing all along.’”
