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Author Archives: Ross Birks
The Aviator (2004)
Has the bones of generic biopic but is made even stronger by Scorsese and screenwriter John Logan’s decision not to tell the full Howard Hughes story, but a very specific chunk. DiCaprio’s performance is gargantuan as is the electrifying filmmaking from Scorsese. … Continue reading
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
“It’s a siege. It’s a goddamn siege!” About as close to perfect as low-budget, economic genre filmmaking can get. Carpenter’s spartan, precise camera glides around capturing glorious PanaVision compositions. This is still early Carpenter and you can feel him finding … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2016, Reviews, Rewatch
Tagged Assault on Precinct 13, Austin Stoker, John Carpenter
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Shocker (1989)
Shocker was a staple of my VHS collection in the good old days and, as a Craven nut, it’s a strange movie I’ve always been very fond of. This was Craven’s hard swing for some franchise cash after New Line took … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2016, Reviews, Rewatch
Tagged Mitch Pileggi, Peter Berg, Shocker, Wes Craven
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The Eyes of My Mother (2016)
Beautiful to look at and full of grotesque ideas, yet the rigid compositions and emphasis on “distance as atmosphere” make The Eyes of My Mother yet another entry in the “art horror” wave that constantly leaves me unfulfilled. Basically The Texas Chainsaw Massacre viewed … Continue reading
Cursed (2005)
Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven re-team to pepper some Scream magic onto the werewolf genre…and fail. That being said, there’s a lot I enjoyed in this dumb old movie. Christina Ricci is perfectly cast. She is so feline and otherworldly that the whole experience … Continue reading
Silver Bullets (2011)
More focused than other early Swanberg stuff I’ve seen and also, apparently, with purpose. Silver Bullets also gains bonus points for featuring a strong central performance from Kate Lyn Sheil who, only now in 2016, finally seems to be having her moment. … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2016, Reviews
Tagged Joe Swanberg, Kate Lyn Sheil, Silver Bullets, Ti West
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I, Daniel Blake (2016)
Like a blunt instrument, Ken Loach’s angry, timely I, Daniel Blake forgoes any sense of subtlety or restraint in favour of focused, heavy-handed beats – in both plot and character – that you will see coming from a mile away. Essentially a … Continue reading
Burial Ground (1981)
The zombie genre has a lot of jewels in its crown: the Romero films, Fulci’s Zombiand The Beyond, Braindead, Shaun of the Dead and (depending on where you stand on the running zombie debate) 28 Days Later and the [REC] movies. But as with any sub-genre overloaded by decades … Continue reading
Nekromantik (1987)
If you really want to disturb your neighbors this Halloween, have I got a tip for you: get hold of a copy of Nekromantik, play it on the biggest TV screen in your house and open all your curtains and blinds … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2016, Reviews, Rewatch
Tagged Jorg Buttgereit, Nekromantik
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"This Film Should Be Played Loud" 