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Don't Torture a Duckling 1972
Lucio Fulci's Don’t Torture a Duckling is one of those rare examples of a giallo with a rural setting; Mario Bava's A Bay of Blood, Sergio Martino's Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key and Pupi Avati's The House with Laughing Windows are the only other ones that I can think of. It is also unusual in that most of the victims are children - something that was a major taboo back then and is…
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The Iron Giant 1999
I have never related to a character more than the Giant obsessively lining up the train tracks when he's fixing them. I would also risk my life if it meant making sure something was completely straight.
This is a simply stunning film and one of the best animated features I've ever seen. It's got humour, deep emotional connection and an intelligent commentary on the USA's feelings towards technological advancements in other countries during the 50s. Sublime from start to finish. If anything, I wish it was longer!
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Dawn of the Dead 1978
A beautifully self-contained classic and a zombie flick which set standards for the genre that are still adhered to today.
Dawn of the Dead is an absolute blast. It finds the perfect balance between silliness / humour and the more serious elements. When you finally see a new human face about 20 minutes before the end, it's a shock to the system, such is the deep bond you've developed with the four main characters prior to this.
There is no better way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon than drawing the curtains and watching a zombie apocalypse film.
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Corpus Christi 2019
One of those dramas that moves along fairly impressively whilst unbeknowst to you burrowing into your very soul and leaving you speechless at its conclusion.
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Rebecca 2020
"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. I dreamt that where our drive once lay, a dark and tortured jungle grew. Nature had come into her own..."
A somewhat noble if ultimately underwhelming adaptation that merely captures the softly glowing embers of what made Daphne du Maurier's Gothic mystery absolutely ignite. To Ben Wheatley and the screenwriters' credit, their Rebecca manages to translate the novel's dualities of observation and invasion with sound cinematic effect, those elements of push…
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Death Wish 1974
“If the police don't defense us, maybe we ought to do it ourselves.”
A blistering and brutal tale of a man pushed too far. Charles Bronson’s untamed wrath cleaning up the filth and the scum. A bleeding-heart liberal turned cold blooded gun toting vigilante. A film that spawned a whole sub-genre. One of the all time great exploitation flicks. A perfect final shot. Maybe this film could teach all these punks a lesson, you never know who you're fuckin’ with. Can you tell I love vigilante flicks? Paul Kersey is my hero.
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Insomnia 2002
This review may contain spoilers.
No one wants to admit it, or simply no one wants to talk about it compared to the massive success this guy has made over the past years, producing box office hits, blasting Zimmer’s music in my ears until I lose my hearing, before the anarchist craze or the incredibly risible infatuation for time, but Christopher Nolan’s stunningly serene remake of the 1997 Norwegian thriller of the same name Insomnia is a good film. It…
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Nomadland 2020
80/100
This was the first film I’ve seen from Chloé Zhao, and her direction for Nomadland was some of the most pure and natural filmmaking of the past year. The cinematography is stunning, showing off the beautiful mountains like it’s another character to the film. A lot of the praise I’ve heard from this film is Frances McDormand’s performance, and it’s definitely warranted. While she doesn’t necessarily have to do a lot, she’s able to bring out what her character…
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Dead Man 1995
I liked this movie. It felt more like a Coen Brothers movie in most spots, than a Jim Jarmusch movie, which is good. I like Coen Brothers movies, but I don't typically like Jim Jarmusch movies.
Pretty strange to watch Johnny Depp be the "normal" person in a movie, while a bunch of scene chewing characters dance around him.
If I were forced to pick someone from this movie that I enjoyed every time they were on screen, I would have to honestly say...Nobody.
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Secrets & Lies 1996
Bittersweet realism has long been Mike Leigh’s bread and butter, and this is yet another solid entry in that particular bracket of the man’s output. He has a real gift for telling honest human stories about hard-hitting subjects that somehow manage to be both emotionally raw and bitterly funny, often at the same time. It’s quite a skill; something he may well be unrivalled at.
This film won the Palm d’Or at Cannes in 1996, and it’s not hard to…
