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Author Archives: Ross Birks
Golden Exits (2018)
Another unmistakeable entry into the Alex Ross Perry canon aka “The Ongoing Dramas of Upper Class Assholes”. Perry mounts a mass ensemble but avoids an Altman-like sprawl by cleverly having them all pivot around Emily Browning’s Naomi. It’s a collage … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged 2018, Adam Horovitz, Alex Ross Perry, Analeigh Tipton, Chloe Sevigny, Emily Browning, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Rabe, Mary-Louise Parker
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Victor Crowley (2017)
Considering that this was shot in secret a good four years after Hatchet III and unveiled in grandstanding fashion upon an unsuspecting Hatchet-loving crowd, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Victor Crowley would be something of an event for the … Continue reading
Hatchet III (2013)
Featuring smoother cinematography than the previous Hatchet flick and it does what all good Part III’s should – blow shit up. Literally. This is the “firepower” instalment of the Hatchet franchise, the closest the series will get to Aliens or … Continue reading
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Tagged 2013, Adam Green, Dannielle Harris, Kane Hodder, Perry Shen
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Hatchet II (2010)
The jump from film to digital makes the back-to-back viewing experience of Hatchet and Hatchet II a tad jarring – this one certainly looks shoddier than its predecessor – but otherwise this is a gleefully satisfying continuation. The first thing … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Rewatch
Tagged 2010, Adam Green, Dannielle Harris, Kane Hodder, Tom Holland
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This Must Be the Place (2011)
This spends a lot of its time, too much time I suspect, amusing itself with the image of Sean Penn dressed like Robert Smith. However, as Cheyenne, Penn’s slow, mild-mannered rhythms soon become patience-testing. Yes, that’s the point, but as … Continue reading
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Tagged 2011, David Byrne, Frances McDormand, Harry Dean Stanton, Judd Hirsch, Paolo Sorrentino, Sean Penn
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Rapture (1965)
An American film by all technicalities but wholly European in its feel and locale, John Guillerim’s Rapture is an oddity through and through. As a tiny, character focused drama with minimal square footing it stands out in Guillerim’s filmography which … Continue reading
Hatchet (2006)
Hatchet is a slasher movie made by people who love slasher movies for people who love slasher movies. Writer/director Adam Green invites you to celebrate the genre alongside him. It’s a film that opens itself up for audience participation immediately … Continue reading
The Cremator (1969)
The Cremator plays like many things, primarily a sociopolitical document of 1930s Czechoslovakia presented as a monochromatic horror film assembled with the same hectic anarchy which frazzles Terry Gilliam’s cut-up animations. But it also works as a photo essay of … Continue reading
Married to the Mob (1988)
Another 80s Demme banger that welcomes you with open arms upon every revisit. So full of screwball wit and genre-bending charm. I especially enjoy Demme and Fujimoto’s growing confidence with the subjective camera and the foregrounding of colourful oddballs. It … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Rewatch
Tagged 1988, Alec Baldwin, Dean Stockwell, Jonathan Demme, Mathew Modine, Michelle Pfeiffer
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Street Trash (1987)
Still trashy. Forgot how inconsequential the actual viper stuff is to the main conflict but it only makes the movie zanier. Essentially a bunch of schlocky vignettes loosely connected by shared characters but held together with a truly hellish, borderline-offensive … Continue reading
"This Film Should Be Played Loud" 