Only God Forgives is not a pleasant experience. Watching it is akin to letting viscous ichor fill your veins. It’s like a David Lynch take on a spaghetti-western tale of revenge; the deep rumbling bass tones, thick shadows and vibrant, hellish reds channel Lynch’s style. The dark, labyrinthine corridors that contain Julian (Ryan Gosling)’s Bangkok…
Brian de Palma’s work always has gigantic quotation marks about. He doesn’t tell stories; he makes “cinema.” His larger-than-life, garishly coloured style is best suited to big movies, stories of sex, violence and oversized emotions. On paper, his style seems perfectly suited to the lurid psychosexual thriller-cum-horror movie Dressed to Kill. There are some thrilling…
Whatever failings season three of Homeland had, at least it ended well. “The Star” is an emotional, subdued finale that succeeds by remembering one of the key themes that made Homeland’s first season work. Beyond the spy hijinks and the Carrie/Brody romance, season one was motivated by a sense of powerlessness. Both Carrie and Brody…
Early in “The Bridge” there’s a scene that tells you everything you need to know about where Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is at this point in the season. Discussing Mike (J. August Richards from the pilot), Ward complains that he’s psychotic or something equally disparaging before breaking out that old chestnut: “He’s right behind me,…
Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha is a curious blend of universality and specificity. It tells the tale of young Frances Halliday (Greta Gerwig), an aspiring dancer, as she bounces from apartment to apartment in New York City. We follow her successes and her failures, and watch her orbit through and around various friendship groups, moving away…
Nicholas Brody’s ambiguous intentions were one of Homeland’s biggest assets back in season one, where almost every episode revolved around the question – “What’s Brody actually up to?” His uncertain allegiances and malleability became the linchpin – and eventual crutch – of season two, driving his conversion to the side of the CIA in “Q&A”…
Your typical cinematic cop tends to fall into one of three basic categories: corrupt, by-the-book, or somewhere in between, where they break the rules (and suspect’s bones) to get results. Irish “guard” – policeman – Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) doesn’t fit into any of these subsets. It’s not that he’s a bad cop, per se,…
“Good Night” was one of the stronger episodes of season three of Homeland, a tense sequence – almost a mini action movie – revolving around Brody’s attempts to infiltrate Iran as a double agent (and one that finally tied the Brody and Javadi storylines together). The scenes on the border of Iran had a real…
Lately, writing a review of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. feels very similar to writing my upcoming annual student reports, where the primary goal is to seek positive feedback wherever possible. It turns out that it’s easier to find praise for even the least interested Mathematics student than the bland mush being shovelled into a dwindling…
I’ll give Ja’mie: Private School Girl this: it certainly ends strongly. The final episode of this six episode (mini?) series is its strongest of the lot, and it does so by embracing broader comedy rather than adopting Lilley’s usual approach to wrapping up a series (specifically, evoking emotions, which is powerful when done well –…
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