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Author Archives: Ross Birks
The Hired Hand (1971)
Peter Fonda used his Easy Rider cred to make this, a woozy and poetic western that forgoes the grit and violence of the day to tell a human story that’s more about heartbreak than gunshots. Shot by the great Vilmos Zsigmond … Continue reading
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)
Far better than the painfully generic original. Wrong Turn 2presses harder on the knowing humour, ugly inbreds and has a fun “reality TV” format within that leads to some fun bloodshed. There’s also Henry Rollings going full Rambo on the … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2017, Reviews
Tagged Henry Rollins, Joe Lynch, Movies Watched In 2017, Wrong Turn 2
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Rocky V (1990)
I go back and forth on Rocky V. When I first saw it as a kid, I hated it. Then I rewatched it in my late teens and actually found it to be surprisingly complex and emotional, especially in comparison … Continue reading
Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
A pretty beefy 80s slasher flick, at least as far as running time is concerned. At 110 minutes it’s certainly one of the longest hack and slash movies I’ve seen but it paces itself out nicely for the most part. … Continue reading
Wrong Turn (2003)
A generic, derivative and, worst of all, boring backwoods slasher film. It sorta feels weird to see a studio-polished riff on horror concepts that were born on the fringes of mainstream cinema. When Wes Craven tackled inbred mutants in The … Continue reading
Personal Shopper (2016)
The first GREAT movie of 2017. Totally unpredictable, genre-fluid and formally daring, Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopperwas not at all the movie I expected, but it turned out to be exactly the one I needed. On paper, this movie just shouldn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2017, Reviews
Tagged Kristen Stewart, Olivier Assayas, Personal Shopper
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Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1995)
For a straight-to-video sequel, Darkman II has pretty good production value. Despite arriving five years after its predecessor, it certainly feels like a legit continuation of Sam Raimi’s original Darkman rather than a loosely connected cash-in (and I repeat, five … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2017, Reviews
Tagged Arnold Vosloo, Bradford May, Darkman II, Larry Drake
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Southbound (2015)
The thing I appreciate about Southbound, the latest in a long line of recent anthology horror films, is the group effort by all the filmmakers involved to create an elaborate and consistent mythology. There’s a world built in this movie, … Continue reading
Commando (1985)
If I saw Commando when I should have, aged between eight and twelve years old, I would have probably grown up with an unflinching fondness for it. Watching it today at twenty six though, it’s difficult to look past the … Continue reading
Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)
By the end of this documentary you’ll be convinced you’ve just seen the making of the greatest film never made. However, Jodorowsky’s Dune isn’t a tale of Hollywood studio conglomerates failing to see potential in a game-changing project, but the … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2017, Reviews
Tagged Alejandro Jodorowsky, Jodorowsky's Dune
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"This Film Should Be Played Loud" 