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Author Archives: Ross Birks
Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994)
Following a dalliance with major-studio funding and distribution courtesy of Universal for Phantasm II, Coscarelli returned to independent financing and a smaller canvas for his second sequel which arrived six years later. With Phantasm III, horror’s weirdest franchise becomes even more of … Continue reading
Posted in Arrow Films, Reviews, Rewatch
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Citizen’s Band (1977)
Demme’s passing last month hit me pretty hard but instead of mourning endlessly I decided to celebrate his career by filling in a load of blind-spots. Citizen’s Band (a.k.a. Handle With Care) is highly regarded among Demme-heads but is otherwise a lost-gem (Barely … Continue reading
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Phantasm II (1988)
Released nine years after the original film with big-time studio backing and resources courtesy of Universal, it’s no surprise that Phantasm II is much bigger in scope than the first film. Essentially a road movie that unfolds over an undisclosed period of … Continue reading
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Phantasm (1979)
“The funeral is about to begin” Over the past few years Phantasm has slowly climbed the ranks of my favourite horror movies to become a legit contender for the top spot. What sets it apart from so many other horror movies of … Continue reading
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The Childhood of a Leader (2017)
Probably the most unexpected feature film from an actor turned writer/director since…By the Sea? When Brady Corbet (pronounced Cor-bay, pretentiously) announced he was transitioning into directing, I doubt anyone expected this. While being a simplistic and relatively routine document of a … Continue reading
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Heavy (1995)
As a pretty casual fan of James Mangold (big up Cop Land and Identity!) I’ve always been curious to see Heavy, his writing/directing debut. This is such a pleasingly simple and visual movie. Set primarily around a small diner and the people who work … Continue reading
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Stop Making Sense (1984)
Stop Making Sense is my favourite movie of all time and a big part of that is because of Jonathan Demme. Beyond the music and the incredible central performance by Talking Heads, there’s an underlying enthusiasm and joy here that is … Continue reading
Posted in Favourite Movies, Reviews, Rewatch
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Castle Freak (1995)
For a movie with such a dumb title and potentially throwaway concept, Castle Freak is actually a solid shocker in the same way most of Stuart Gordon’s best films are. Like most great horror movies that aren’t interested in simple roller-coaster shocks, … Continue reading
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Phil Spector (2013)
Phil Spector works best when it’s just Al Pacino and Helen Mirren sat in a room spitting out Mamet’s dialogue. There are extended stretches here that are up there with some of Mamet’s best stuff and having actors as adept as … Continue reading
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Catfight (2016)
A comedy centred around two women repeatedly beating the living shit out of each other doesn’t sound all that appealing on paper but I’ll be damned if Anne Heche and Sandra Oh don’t make it work. I went into Catfight not really … Continue reading
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"This Film Should Be Played Loud" 