Category Archives: Reviews

Zardoz (1974)

John Boorman cashed his Deliverance cheque to make…this? To clarify: that’s not a dig at the Zardoz‘s quality but more a reaction to Boorman’s sheer audacity. After a planned adaptation of Lord of the Rings fell through, Boorman poured all … Continue reading

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The Last House on Dead End Street (1973)

A grotty hellmouth of a movie. Almost hallucinogenic in the way everything just bleeds and blends together. The shoddy sound, the grainy film stock, the grimy nudity and snuff violence – it all stews together into some weird, bargain-bin acid … Continue reading

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Drinking Buddies (2013)

While digging through Joe Swanberg’s filmography, I’m trying as best I can to alternate between the early stuff and the modern stuff, availability permitting. I should have seen Drinking Buddies a lot earlier. It’s his breakthrough film in many ways, … Continue reading

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Polytechnique (2009)

I always find pre-Deakins Villenueve quite lacking. Polytechnique is a harrowing idea for a movie and there are a number of sequences which really work. The opening scene, for example, pins you to your seat and with it’s sudden burst … Continue reading

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Tropical Malady (2004)

I love how Apichatpong “Joe” Weerasethakul tells stories. He likes to reset his narrative halfway through in order to show us a mirror story that shares characters, dialogue and scenes with the one that preceded it. When I first saw … Continue reading

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Vampyr (1932)

Vampyr is one of those movies that feels like the seed for everything that came after it. Not only is this the earliest vampire movie I’ve seen (Nosferatu I’m coming for you) it’s also my first Carl Dreyer movie (applause). … Continue reading

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Some Kind of Hate (2015)

Some Kind Of Hate is a very unpleasant slice of VOD horror but it’s not without it’s merits. Essentially a very bloody anti-bullying ad the film cleverly combines vengeful ghost-story with more common psycho-slasher tropes in an attempt to say … Continue reading

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The Premonition (1976)

A kind-of bummer freak-out rendition of Raising Arizona featuring a pair of dysfunctional carnies who decide to kidnap their daughter back from her adoptive parents. The story ping pongs between the two mothers as they are connected with a psychic … Continue reading

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Looking Ahead: The Cable Guy (1996)

The Cable Guy is an incredibly prescient comedy for 1996 that not only predicts The Internet Age but also the rise of the bromance and cruel comedies. Much was said at the time about Carrey’s mammoth paycheck but the fact … Continue reading

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Birdemic (2010)

James Nguyun wanted to make a film. He didn’t have a lot of money. He didn’t have good actors. He didn’t have a good script. He made a film anyway. The film is bad. The filmmaking is incompetent. The special … Continue reading

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