Within three weeks of our arrival to the US, Robert Kraft was busted having a masseuse play tug with his shaft, R. Kelly was made to face the music for real this time, and New Zealand had its infamous mosque shooting.
The Neon Demon
Film Title
The Neon DemonSynopsis
Jess is an aspiring actress who makes her move on Los Angeles
Director
Nicholas Winding RefnCast
Elle Fanning
Carl Glusman
Jena Malone
Bella Heathcote
Abbey Lee
Desmond Harrington
Coming from the position of not knowing his earlier output, this take might be limited but better to have tried and failed, right? Nicolas Winding Refn occupies a unique place among active filmmakers, but also a precarious one. Revered without being critic-proof, his films decidedly garner polarizing sentiment. As a whole his later filmography forms […]
The Witch (2015)

Film Title
The WitchSynopsis
A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.
Director
Robert EggersCast
Anya Taylor-Joy
Ralph Eneson
Kate Dickle
Harvey Scrimshaw
Julian Richings
Sarah Stephens
Sitting through The Witch, and long after it finished, I grappled with my reaction hoping to articulate it into a verdict, weeding out customary knee-jerk biases only for resignation to eventually set in. A second viewing was in order. Although it was one more borne out of pure enjoyment, rather than a needy reassurance, for […]
Under the Skin (2013)

Film Title
Under the Skin (2013)Synopsis
Mysterious woman seduces lonely men.
Director
Johnathan GlazerCast
Scarlett Johannsson
Paul Brannigan
Lots of other dudes
While accurate, to dismiss Jonathan Glazer’s unorthodox alien sci-fi as enigmatic is a simplistic exercise in reductionism, but it is also the easiest to do. Though tangential, comparisons to 2001: A Space Odyssey were inevitable, they would prove only insofar as creative intent. What Kubrick sought to ask would ultimately eclipse what his epic attempted […]
Nightcrawler

Film Title
NightcrawlerSynopsis
When planning your work is not enough
Director
Dan GilroyCast
Jake Gyllenhaal
Michael Papajohn
Marco Rodriguez
Bill Paxton
James Huang
Rene Russo
Riz Ahmed
Despite being categorically different in tone, Nightcrawler is similar to Carancho in featuring cottage industries named in generic, often pejorative fashion. Except an honest assessment of Nightcrawler would do well without two things, to be fair: heaping plaudits on the performance by Jake Gyllenhaal, and; partaking in fanboy fuckery extended to a character that no […]