The Shaft, a straight-to-video release (that took a couple years to see the light of day in the States) is a slasher movie, except with a twist – the killer is…an elevator! Seriously. It’s an inherently silly premise which doesn’t have to prevent it from being an enjoyable B-movie. There’s a promising jokey tone early,…
Triangle is an atmospheric, unnerving puzzle-box of a film, chilling and cerebral. Enigmatic opening scenes scored with foreboding music establish a mood of dread, matched by Jess (Melissa George)’s deathly pallor and discomfiting vagueness. Flashes of dreams or flashbacks suggest a non-linear narrative. There are sinister mentions of Jess son’s…something’s off, and references to Sisyphus…
My thoughts on Life of Pi are going to be very different from yours. This is true of any artwork. Art is subjective, after all. But Life of Pi is unique. Sure, you might be equally enchanted by the whimsical opening scenes, as young Pi learns about life and religion, portrayed with visual flair and…
The premiere of Girls’ sophomore season (arriving roughly the same time as its Golden Globes win) is smart to set most of its action at a hazy apartment bash, since the episode matches the meandering, feverish feel of a drunken, crowded party. It feels a touch rushed compared to the careful pacing of Season 1…
Premium Rush is a high-octane thrill ride, a white-knuckle rush of a film. There’s technically a plot, revealed in smatterings of flashbacks, but it’s essentially a barebones excuse to fill the film with exhilarating bicycle races. One of my (and apparently everyone’s) favourite actors at the moment, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, plays Wilee (like the Coyote), an…
A French Deliverance with a satanic twist, Sheitan focuses on a group of crass twentysomethings who travel into the countryside following a flirtatious girl. These characters are exceedingly unlikable, and if you’re anything like me, fifteen minutes in you’ll be eagerly looking forward to whatever unpleasant plight awaits them. You’ll be waiting a while. The…
Tucker and Dale vs Evil is built on a simple germ of an idea – what happens if you use the hillbilly-slasher framework, but portrayed from the hillbillies’ perspective? And what if said rednecks are actually innocent sweethearts, the “murders” caused by freak accidents (that are hard to describe without mentioning Rube Goldberg)? It’s a…
Given the Academy Award nominations were just announced today, it seemed a good a time as any to finally publish my top 10 films of 2012 list. My criteria for inclusion is a little shaky, but critically acclaimed films like Django Unchained, Zero Dark Thirty and Flight are all yet to be released in Australia…
“…Well, I guess I need to choose my words more carefully.” Justified is a show that always chooses its words carefully, particularly during the tense showdowns that occur frequently on the show. It’s like a ‘40s noir film in the way that the dialogue is carefully crafted, the relaxed Southern rhythm belying the subtle, clever…
Beasts of the Southern Wild creates a world unlike any other I’ve encountered in either real life or fiction. It concerns the ragtag residents of “The Bathtub,” a small Louisiana community on the wrong side of a levee, in perpetual danger of disappearing beneath the ocean every time a storm hits. The tale is told…
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