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Author Archives: Ross Birks
All the Light in the Sky (2012)
This greatly benefits from Swanberg turning his lens on older, more seasoned actors. Jane Adams is deservedly front and centre and the film feels like her property. Like Adams, her character is a mature character actress trying to navigate a … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged 2012, Jane Adams, Joe Swanberg, Larry Fessenden, Sophia Takal
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Joe Swanberg deals with the consequences of his filmmaking in The Zone (2011)
The ferocious realism of Joe Swanberg’s films often leave me questioning where the line between fact and fiction begins to blur. As seen through the pixelations of a low-fi digital lens, the intimacy can be so intense – the nudity … Continue reading
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Tagged Joe Swanberg, Kate Lynn Sheil, Lawrence Michael Levine, Sophia Takal, The Zone
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The Lady Without Camelias (1953)
La signora senza camelie could also be translated as “Melodrama and Film Sets”. Antonioni’s scathing takedown of the Italian film industry follows an actress called Clara (Lucia Bosé) as she navigates a world of seedy moviemakers and greedy agents, exclusively … Continue reading
Sing Street (2016)
A delightful speaker-blast of kitchen-sink escapism which further proves John Carney to be the modern master of the movie musical. Sing Street makes you feel good, it makes you tap your feet; it’s a vision of Irish streets in the … Continue reading
Split Screen: Dogtooth (2009)/Split (2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex-DCL8W08s In an interview with the AV Club around the time of Split‘s release, director M Night Shyamalan pointed to the influence of Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth on the film’s cinematography: Well, then you remember how the frame is so irreverent to … Continue reading
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
This is so unlike anything else Eastwood has ever directed that it feels borderline experimental for him. In adapting a famously populated true crime novel, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil works best as a document of an … Continue reading
The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
Even when working to create a silly horror mystery full of campy entertainment value, as he is here, Ken Russell can’t help but transform it into A Ken Russell Movie. Lair of the White Worm works best when it’s explicitly … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged 1988, Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Ken Russell, Peter Capaldi
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Not Fade Away (2012)
“When you’re singing the blues, the lyric line often starts “Woke Up This Morning”. Life just comes and fucks you right over, right?” – Pat, Not Fade Away “Woke Up This Morning, got yourself a gun” – Opening theme to The Sopranos … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Rewatch
Tagged Bella Heathcote, David Chase, Jack Huston, James Gandolfini, John Magaro
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The Game (1997)
The one Fincher flick everyone agrees is underrated, right? Every time I return to The Game I’m struck by the level of craft Fincher applies to an otherwise dopey idea. It’s not hard to imagine the various, sensational ways this … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Rewatch
Tagged 1997, David Fincher, Deborah Kara Unger, Harris Savides, Michael Douglas, Sean Penn
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The Gate (1987)
While clearly forged in the age of Spielberg and Dante, The Gate is easily one of the better attempts at achieving that ghoulish tone. From the evocative opening dream sequence – young Stephen Dorff wakes to find his house ransacked … Continue reading
"This Film Should Be Played Loud" 