Title – Penguin Bloom (2020) Director – Glendyn Ivin (Last Ride) Cast – Naomi Watts, Andrew Lincoln, Rachel House, Jacki Weaver, Griffin Murray-Johnston Plot – Based on the true story of Australian family the Blooms and their relationship with a young Magpie they rescue months after their mother and wife Sam (Watts) loses the use […]
Film Review – Penguin Bloom (2020)
Off the wagon. So this is about four friends who all are high school teachers in Denmark. Over a 40th birthday dinner, one of them mentions a theory that all humans are born with a .05% alcohol deficiency in their blood. They decide to test this thesis by maintaining this level through the workweek. Now […]
Stay Drunk – Another Round (2020)
2020 has been a very strange year, due to a global pandemic resulting in the pushing back of big names movies, closing cinemas or forcing some movies to get released on streaming platforms for a premium price. So watching movies hasn’t been as simple or as accessible as we’ve been used to. During the year […]
The 39 Steps was arguably Alfred Hitchcock’s most adventurous adaptation at the time that it was released. It’s based on the novel by John Buchan, published in 1915, which tells the story of Richard Hannay, played here by Robert Donat, who becomes embroiled in an international conspiracy on the dawn of World War II. For […]
Hitchcock: The 39 Steps (1935)
Where do you go from here? So this is about a young couple (Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf). They go through a home birth that ends in tragedy. How do you even begin to cope with a loss like that? Now I knew a limited amount of information on this, just that it was getting a […]
In the Wake – Pieces of a Woman (2020)
I was not prepared for the extent to which Ingmar Bergman’s oeuvre would embrace the uncanny. He may not be a David Lynch, but where Lynch’s nightmares are often emphatically surreal, Bergman’s use of the dreamlike is more subtle, more psychological, and probably more Freudian – though not in the overly literal way that pop-Freudians […]
The Compleat Ingmar #20: The Silence (1963)
MY CALL: Although far from great, this was a pleasantly surprising SyFy original TV movie. The acting and creature effects were more than sufficient to entertain me through this otherwise very familiar story. MORE MOVIES LIKE Dead in the Water: Well, first off, Sea Fever (2019) did it better. Looking for much better horror at […]
John’s Horror Corner: Dead in the Water (2018), a serviceable SyFy original creature feature at sea.
A fictionalized account of the night of February 25th 1964, a night where cultural icons Malcolm X (Ben-Adir), singer Sam Cooke (Odom Jr.), NFL player Jim Brown (Hodge) and […]
Film Review – One Night in Miami (2020)
As the powerhouse explains, a neck injury enhanced her demented turn as Shirley Jackson. But other than that, Moss insists she’s no method actor.
Elisabeth Moss Runs on Pain, Real and Imaginary, in ‘The Invisible Man’ and ‘Shirley’
Picture it: 1950s Harlem. A young man is walking by a record store. Through the window he spots a beautiful young woman behind the cash register, visibly enjoying an episode of I Love Lucy. Something urges him inside – he grabs the Help Wanted sign out of the window just to have something to say. […]
MY CALL: This is top-notch science fiction, complete with horror like action and a fantastic monster, and gift-wrapped in an atmospheric thriller. Huge recommendation. I loved this! MORE MOVIES LIKE Sputnik: The best double-feature suggestion I have for this would be Life (2017). Distantly related, much less pithy, and more to the tune of grimy […]
After perfecting his comic persona in Billy Madison, and relaxing it slightly in Happy Gilmore, Adam Sandler experimented with dissociating its two component parts in his next two films. Where he regressed even further into toddler tantrums with The Waterboy, he explored his sentimental side in The Wedding Singer, which remains his only really viable […]
Coraci: The Wedding Singer (1998)
On the ocean with friends. So this is about a celebrated author (Meryl Streep). She doesn’t want to fly across the sea to pick up a prestigious award in the United Kingdom, so she hops on a luxury cruise line instead. She talks her publishing company into footing the bill for her nephew (Lucas Hedges) […]
Atlantic Cruise for an Author – Let Them All Talk (2020)
A confronting examination of the modern social media/internet obsessed society we currently find ourselves in with insights and revelations from some of the top tech-savvy minds in the world. “How do you wake […]
Film Review – The Social Dilemma (2020)
Cassie (Carey Mulligan) was once a promising young woman, a fact her parents take the opportunity to remind her of every morning at breakfast. Now 30, friendless, living at home despite heavy parental hinting that it may be time to move one, an unambitious med school dropout turned barista, Cassie’s parents (Jennifer Coolidge, Clancy Brown) […]
A motley group of office workers go through hilarious misadventures at the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. While I didn’t see the show during its original run, I was aware of its cultural identity and that it launched the careers of John Krasinski (A Quiet Place) et al. I was put […]
Sputnik is a film I knew very little about before watching it. Okay, I guess the title is a bit of a giveaway but I hadn’t watched any trailers or read any reviews. It was just the simplicity of the poster above that made me believe this film was worth watching, and when that happens, […]
Sputnik 2020. Find Earth and Reep.
While they’re renowned for their sparkling dialogue and witty repartee, Woody Allen’s films don’t tend to be especially remarkable for their visual beauty. Manhattan is one of the few exceptions that proves that rule, however, since Allen’s collaboration with cinematographer Gordon Willis made this the most visually ravishing film of his entire career. Rather than […]
Sinema izleyicisine karşı takınılması gerektiği tavır sinema tarihi boyunca tartışma konusu olmuştur. Film, izleyicisine ne tür bir deneyim sunmalıdır? Onu mutlu mu, yoksa mutsuz mu etmelidir? Filmlerin amacı duyguyu yansıtmak mıdır, yoksa izleyicinin kendi içindekine dokunmak mıdır? Sinema, estetiği itibariyle iyi ve güzel masalsı bir dille mi anlatmalıdır, yoksa bizi suratımıza yumruğu mu patlatmalıdır? Gaspar […]
Rahatsız Ediciliğin Doruk Noktası: Climax
İsmet Özel “Modernlik insan yaşamına yaraşır bir hayata manidir”[1] der. Bunun Amerika’yı yeniden keşfetmek olduğunu söylemek haksızlık olacaksa da modernitenin bizim yaşamımıza getirdikleri ve götürdükleri sonucunda yaşamımızın aldığı hâlin ne olduğu meselesinin her bireyin zihnini kurcalaması gerektiğini ve kafası çalışan pek çoklarının da zaten kurcaladığını düşünüyorum. Açık olan bir şey var ki bu mesele Oslo, […]