[8] An austere Swedish import that is both a touching coming-of-age story and a disturbing horror film. Let the Right One In centers around twelve-year-old Oskar, a bullied boy who befriends a strange new girl whose arrival into the community just so happens to coincide with many strange disappearances. Oskar falls in love with the girl, all while fearing her tyrannical father — not realizing …
[8] Crazed hunters pursue an American mountain cyclist through the misty Austrian wilderness until all parties fall prey to a super-sick and twisted, almost supernatural character referred to as Mortis. Director Federico Zampaglione puts a few fresh spins on this mash-up of familiar tropes and proves downright masterful at building atmosphere and suspense. The scenes involving Mortis (Nuot Arquint) are a rare treat for horror …
[8] A man captures a feral woman and chains her up in his cellar, calling upon his wife and kids to help him ‘civilize’ her. The Woman makes bold play of gender dynamics that will leave some viewers crying ‘misogyny’, ‘misandry’, or both — but I applaud writer/director Lucky McKee (May, The Woods) for his provocative exploration of the material. The film features outstanding performances …
[8] The film adaptation of Robert Harling’s play is unabashedly melodramatic, nostalgic, and sentimental. Some of those qualities usually annoy the hell out of me, but the ensemble of great actresses and the slew of memorable one-liners make Steel Magnolias hard to resist. I care less about the dramatic Sally Field/Julia Roberts center story (mother, daughter, wedding, pregnancy, illness, blah) and more about the group …
[8] After tackling fantasy in The Neverending Story, director Wolfgang Petersen turned to science-fiction in this intimate tale of opposing fighter pilots who crash-land on a dangerous planet together. Dennis Quaid plays the human, and Louis Gossett Jr plays the alien, unrecognizable under Chris Walas’ incredible prosthetic makeup. The screenplay wisely spends the first two-thirds of the movie building a bond between the characters, taking …
[8] Charlize Theron stars as Aileen Wuornos, the infamous Florida prostitute who became a serial killer, in this film chronicling her last few months of freedom before being captured and executed in 2002. Writer/director Patty Jenkins doesn’t shy away from Wuornos’ crimes, but aims to paint a more complex portrait of the woman who committed them. Monster introduces us to Wuornos as she’s contemplating suicide, …
[8] Hot off his Best Director Oscar for Birdman, Alejandro González Iñárritu delivers another astonishing directorial effort. The Revenant is shot entirely outdoors with available lighting, capturing the story of an 1820s fur trader (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is viciously mauled by a bear and left for dead by a traitorous fellow trader (Tom Hardy). DiCaprio and Hardy are both equally up to the task here, …
[8] I haven’t particularly liked any Rob Zombie movies until this one, which is strange because his devoted fans — by and large — detest this movie. The Lords of Salem features masterful style and cinematic execution, often reminding me more of a Stanley Kubrick or David Lynch film. Sheri Moon Zombie stars as a young woman who unwittingly opens the door for a coven …
[8] This is probably one of the most brutal and harrowing horror films of the past ten or fifteen years. Michael Fassbender hopes to pop the question to his girlfriend Kelly Reilly over a romantic weekend that spirals into a nail-biting fight for survival. Eden Lake takes its cues from Deliverance, but with nasty thirteen-year old’s instead of hillbillies. This film is the directorial debut …
[8] Quentin Tarantino’s eighth film (because he’s counting) is a three-hour long claustrophobic western about eight characters holed up in a lodge during a snowstorm who all have reason to kill one another. Leading the ensemble cast are Kurt Russell as a bounty hunter, Jennifer Jason Leigh as his ruthless, almost feral captive, Samuel L. Jackson as a Union major delivering corpses for reward money, …
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