This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
On its surface, Alice Sweet Alice is a superbly executed proto-slasher; a murder mystery in the vein of the Italian Giallo.
But upon deeper inspection, it's an allegory for sex abuse in the Catholic Church.
Alice is repeatedly objectified and sexualized by adult men; the landlord, the polygraph operator, the psychiatrist's assistant. They take advantage of her for being a bad kid from a broken home; a common target of abuse. It's no surprise that these same men blame her…
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would! Even a lot of the "bad parts" I see complaints about feel like they were intentionally funny. Maybe it helped knowing what to expect a little before going in? Not that you can really prepare yourself for a movie like this...
I wasn't expecting this film to be such an exercise in homage and emulation. When I heard people talking about how awkward the film felt, I assumed that…
"We are selling to willing buyers at the current fair market price."
Insanely stacked cast. Gotta love a good ensemble piece where each actor gets their moment to shine.
It's thin on plot (sort of unsurprisingly) but Chandor is a strong enough writer to give the scenes enough dramatic gravity to carry them through.
Unlike The Big Short, this film doesn't really dive into the specifics on what led to the 2008 financial crisis (instead, it operates on the assumption…
The Neon Demon certainly has its moments (particularly with its Roeg-style set pieces) but it ultimately amounts to a film that is less than the sum of its parts. In the final reels, where it needs to come together most, Refn loses the plot.
There are a few things that really work in Critters 4; the blue-collar spaceship crew, the Firefly style soundtrack (this came out a decade before), the charming low-budget production design, and the quality performances from Bassett, Dourif, and Don Keith Opper (who outshines them all). But all the things that work are let down by some absolutely glacial pacing and the complete absence of anything remotely close to suspense.
Of all the films from the 90s hood blaxploitation renaissance, this is among the best.
While it follows a rather typical rise-and-fall drug lord plot, Deep Cover shines in the details and execution.
Bill Duke's direction is meticulous yet energized (swerving Dutch tilts and neon-soaked shadows). The dialogue is cool, natural, and at times even profound (neo-noir musings about race, class and religion right down to the voiceover narration). The soundtrack is dynamic and grounded (from hip hop beats to…
