Category: Reviews

Marnie (1964) serves as an off-balance miss from Alfred Hitchock

December 14, 2021

Marnie, an off-balanced Hitchock thriller all reliant on the twist, is one of the few films he ever made that I didn’t find palatable. It’s a combination of the Jay Presson Allen screenplay forcing weird character traits and phobias that move the plot along and furthermore, Tippi Hedren’s (Marnie) exploding neuroticism actively took me out of the story. Thankfully, Marnie has some charm, as Sean Connery (Mark) adds bravado, but Marnie’s past dominates the narrative in a way that felt cheap. 
… More Marnie (1964) serves as an off-balance miss from Alfred Hitchock

CERTIFIED WEIRD: Silent Night is an unbalanced black comedy with little laughs

December 7, 2021

The concept behind Camille Griffin’s holiday black comedy Silent Night had potential, but the tonal balance of the film betrays the comedy elements, melodrama, and warped sentimentality. It sets out to make a Hallmark moment Holiday extravaganza while looking directly into the eye of impending doom. The ensemble piece takes center stage at the end of the world slash Christmas get-together, as the script slowly but surely reveals more damning plot details.  … More CERTIFIED WEIRD: Silent Night is an unbalanced black comedy with little laughs

Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” a fiercely complex character piece

December 7, 2021

Character driven, methodically paced storytelling from Jane Campion. The Power of the Dog can be an empowering journey of inner discovery, but most of the film is spent in a cesspool of toxic masculinity, reaffirming machismo. It’s a muddled and complex rendering of Thomas Savage’s novel, showing these characters as brutish and consciously flawed.
… More Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” a fiercely complex character piece

The Hidden Facade of Joan Crawford’s Private Life in her daughter’s Memoirs, Mommie Dearest

December 2, 2021

Hollywood starlet, raised to believe that success is earned and handled. She was never naive and her business acumen made her a threat to the structure of society. Not only that, she was a powerhouse of an actress and delivered a number of my favorite performances (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Mildred Pierce, Johnny Guitar) ever. She’s an icon, but her public persona hides a dark, personal secret.
… More The Hidden Facade of Joan Crawford’s Private Life in her daughter’s Memoirs, Mommie Dearest

The Desperation Felt in William Wyler’s The Desperate Hours (1955) is Palpable

December 2, 2021

The frighteningly real experience of William Wyler’s noir-thriller, The Desperate Hours, pins a family with everything to lose against a trio of runaway felons with nothing to lose. The elongated hostage situation is a boiler of nervous energy and the longer the situation gets extended, the less nerve the characters get, making for a volatile situation. It’s an extremely tight narrative structure, a streamline of intensity from the opening moments to the tragic conclusion.
… More The Desperation Felt in William Wyler’s The Desperate Hours (1955) is Palpable

C’mon C’mon, Man. C’mon, C’mon, Man — a beautiful depiction of what adults can mean to a child

December 1, 2021

C’mon C’mon, a film from Mike Mills, presents an empathetic portrayal of a healthy child-adult relationship. It’s a film that thematically and structurally, shows the importance of perspective and seeing through the eyes of others. The Mills screenplay is framed through the profession of Joaquin Phoenix’s character (Johnny), a traveling radio journalist creating a project on the many different perspectives of kids throughout the United States. 
… More C’mon C’mon, Man. C’mon, C’mon, Man — a beautiful depiction of what adults can mean to a child

CERTIFIED WEIRD: The Humans is a self-involved look at the holidays

November 30, 2021

The Humans is supposed to be a multifaceted look at families during the holidays, but transforms into an deeply interpersonal look at individual’s uninvolved in each other’s lives with their own fucked up set of problems. Adapted from a stage play written by director Stephen Karam, the stagey elements of the film allow the narrative to jump from micro story to the next, focusing on characters in different parts of this dilapidated Manhattan apartment. It splashes in some surreal with the Lol Crowley cinematography, mainly the blocking and framing – capturing these characters in bizarre states that aren’t normal. The sprinkled on horror elements give the direction an edge, and the performances lean into the entropy … More CERTIFIED WEIRD: The Humans is a self-involved look at the holidays

Duck You, Sucker (1971) or A Fistful of Dynamite, the Overlooked Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western

November 29, 2021

Duck You, Sucker! (Or A Fistful of Dynamite) means get your head down, a stick of dynamite is about to explode in Sergio Leone’s not as famous spaghetti western classic. In a more traditionally structured and serious narrative, John H. Mallory (James Coburn) plays the
… More Duck You, Sucker (1971) or A Fistful of Dynamite, the Overlooked Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western

They Call Me Trinity (1970) is Enzo Barboni’s Profoundly Lazy Spaghetti Western

November 27, 2021

It’s two wandering criminals defending a separate group of cattle farming Mormons against greedy rustlers. Using religion as a story beat, the script slightly dips into pacifism and hilariously touches on Mormons’ polygamy that conveniently allows Trinity to get two women instead of one.
… More They Call Me Trinity (1970) is Enzo Barboni’s Profoundly Lazy Spaghetti Western

The Ox-Bow Incident a maddening one-room drama

November 27, 2021

It firmly nestles the audience into a place of distrust and anger, much like the characters. It’s an uncomfortable place because nothing the mob does fits into any modern definition of justice, but the shared mentality of the group overtakes rationality. It’s essentially a real-life horror show and digs into humans’ innate desire for violence, but plays more like a tragedy. A horrible tragedy that leaves all involved with a dirty, sinking feeling that will never leave them for the rest of their lives. 
… More The Ox-Bow Incident a maddening one-room drama