I am continuing the celebration of classic films this month with this double film review post. American legal dramas of the 1950s were in the league of their own, and, apart from the two films I will discuss below, there were also such films as Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men (1957), Edward Dmytryk’s The Caine…
Tag: Mystery
“Death of a Cyclist” Review
Death of a Cyclist (Muerte de un ciclista) [1955] – ★★★★ Death of a Cyclist is a Spanish-language film that was the winner of the FIPRESCI Award at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Juan Antonio Bardem (Main Street (1956)), this social realist film tells of a couple of secret, privileged lovers residing in Madrid who…
“Midsommar” Review
Midsommar [2019] – ★★★★★ ☀️ In this immersive, subtle and unsettling horror master-work, Ari Aster takes his audience by the hand, and slowly and surely introduces the disturbing beneath the festive, relaxing and innocent. Ari Aster takes horror to a completely new level in his latest film Midsommar. Inspired by The Wicker Man and horror…
“Everybody Knows” Review
Everybody Knows (Todos lo saben) [2018] – ★★1/2 This mystery-thriller comes from acclaimed director Asghar Farhadi (The Salesman (2016)), and stars such big stars as Penelope Cruz (Volver (2006)), Javier Bardem (Mother! (2017)) and Ricardo Darin (The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)). It thus seems as though this film can do no wrong, but, unfortunately,…
“The Third Murder” Review
The Third Murder [2018] – ★★★★ “People hardly understand members of their own family, let alone strangers” (Shigemori Akihisa in The Third Murder). This film by an acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda (After the Storm (2016), Shoplifters (2018)) begins with one scene of a murder in progress. A man kills his boss in cold blood…
“Burning” Review
Burning [2018] – ★★★ “You don’t have to convince yourself that a mandarin orange exists, you have to forget that it does not exist.” (Haemi, explaining the art of pantomime in Burning). In Chang-dong Lee’s film Burning, Jongsoo (Ah-In Yoo) is a country lad who rekindles friendship and begins a romance with Haemi (Jong-seo Jeon),…
“Hereditary” Review
Hereditary [2018] – ★★★★ 🏠 Ari Aster treats his horror like an epic masterpiece, paying close attention to story, setting, acting, pacing, look and small symbolic details, & the reward is, finally, a “quality” horror we’ve all been waiting for. Ari Aster’s debut feature horror film has caused quite a stir so far. With such…
“The Killing of a Sacred Deer” Review
The Killing of a Sacred Deer [2017] – ★★★★ This film proved to be the most divisive at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and there was a good reason for the audience and critics to feel so confused and uncertain. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a product of Yorgos Lanthimos, the director who is…
The Horrorathon: Les Diaboliques (1955)
Maddy at Maddy Loves Her Classic Films is hosting the Horrorathon, celebrating horror movies in the light of the forthcoming Halloween, and I have decided to contribute with a review of one intelligent and highly influential film which some view to be one of the precursors to the modern psychological horror/thriller genre. Les Diaboliques [1955] –…
“The Discovery” Review
The Discovery [2017] – ★★★1/2 The Discovery is a film which had its first premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2017, but, arguably, it deserves more attention than it eventually got. Here, Will (Jason Segel) and Isla (Rooney Mara) meet in the strangest of times. It has been scientifically proven that the afterlife does exist,…
“Get Out” Review
Get Out [2017] – ★★★1/2 🦌 An atmospheric and strange combination of The Stepford Wives (1972) and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), but with some “over-the-top” horror in the mix and, thus, hardly offering anything new or subtle by the end. Get Out is one of the best-reviewed films of this year. It is a…
The Medicine in the Movies Blogathon: Spellbound (1945)
Charlene at Charlene’s (Mostly) Classic Movie Reviews is hosting this amazing blogathon – The Medicine in the Movies Blogathon, and this review of Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945) is part of the race. There are many good movies out there which explore interesting, intricate aspects of medicine: from Wellman’s overblown, but entertaining Night Nurse (1931) to…
“Psycho” Review
Psycho [1960] – ★★★★★ 🚿 A true classic which stood the test of time, revolutionising the presentation of horror on screen and showcasing Hitchcock’s unparalleled talent for creating suspense. Adapted from a novel by Robert Bloch, this film is a classic of psychological horror genre, which practically revolutionised the way horror films were shot ever since…
“Personal Shopper” Review
Personal Shopper [2016] – ★★1/2 In Personal Shopper, a film by Olivier Assayas (Paris, je t’aime (2006)), Kristen Stewart plays a young woman Maureen, who mourns the loss of her twin brother Lewis. Maureen visits the house where Lewis lived with his girlfriend, and believes that his ghost will try to communicate with her. In…
“Sleepy Hollow” Review
Sleepy Hollow [1999] – ★★★★1/2 🪓 Burton’s lavishly gothic period film is a top-notch mystery, combining intrigue, romance and horror, while also not forgetting to pay tribute to the original source material. “A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere” (Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow). …
“The Secret in their Eyes” Review
El Secreto de sus Ojos [2009] – ★★★★★ ‘¿Te das cuenta, Benjamín? El tipo puede cambiar de todo: de cara, de casa, de familia, de novia, de religión, de Dios…pero hay una cosa que no puede cambiar, Benjamín… no puede cambiar…de pasión’. (Pablo Sandoval) Praised by critics and audiences alike worldwide, El Secreto de sus…
“The Skin I Live In” Review
The Skin I Live In [2011] – ★★★★★ 🥼This artistically gorgeous and unflinching cinematic creation is a triumph of specifically Almodóvarian film-making. Hailed as one of the most provocative films of the year, Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In is a bizarre drama about a genius plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas) who…
“The Quiet American” Review
The Quiet American [2002] – ★★★★1/2 Directed by Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games (1992)), The Quiet American (2002) is a marvellous adaptation of Graham Greene’s classic novel of the same name. This book-to-film adaptation is so good, it arguably suppresses the majority of previous Graham Greene novel adaptations, and the film is certainly better than the…
“Identity” Review
Identity [2003] – ★★★★1/2 👤 An intelligent and claustrophobic horror treat, with one mind-blowing final twist. “As I was walking up the stairs, I met a man who wasn’t there. He wasn’t there again today; I wish, I wish he’d go away.” Ten strangers: a family of three, a limo driver, a film star, a call girl, a…
Explained: David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive”
In Mulholland Drive, a person’s subconsciousness is on full display for us to see and try to make sense of. This intelligent and thought-provoking film is a real “brain-teaser” where appearances mislead, nothing is what it seems, and reality and wishful thinking intertwine.
Spotlight on Film 