There were not that many actors who could cross the genres as effortlessly as James Stewart, and he proves that here in this superior western that pitches him as disgruntled bounty hunter “Kemp”. He is on the trail of the ingenious “Vandergroat” (Robert Ryan) who’s found himself a vantage point that he can readily defend with rifle and rocks. “Kemp” is a lone wolf, so isn’t naturally inclined to work with the wandering prospector “Tate” (Millard Mitchell) nor with the dubious and flamboyant soldier “Anderson” (Ralph Meeker) - especially when they learn there is $5,000 riding on the head of the…
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One of the first things that stood out to me was how feminine this film felt in the best possible way. Almost every major female character holds power, agency, or authority: the Tulkun matriarch, Ronal, Tonowari’s clan through Ronal’s influence, Kiri, General Ardmore, Varang, and especially Neytiri, who finally gets the screen presence she deserved after the first film. Across clans and factions, women clearly hold more power than men, and that thematic choice felt intentional and refreshing.
Visually, the film is absolutely staggering. The massive set pieces are some of the most impressive…
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With both Thanksgiving and an ice storm approaching their early 70s Connecticut town, the “Hood” and “Carver” families are congregating for their celebrations in which you sense you might actually be safer if you were the turkey. We first meet the former family where dad “Ben” (Kevin Kline) is pretty much only going through the motions in his marriage to “Elena” (Joan Chen). Their loved up teenage son “Paul” (Tobey Maguire) has arrived from college in New York, and then there is daughter “Wendy” (Christina Ricci). The latter lot appear just as messy as “Jim” (Jamey Sheridan) and “Janey” (Sigou…
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Never the brightest bear in the woods, “Pooh” puts on his scarf and leaves home as the wind picks up the leaves and suggests that it’s going to be a very blustery day. He’s not the only one of his friends who has ventured out, but it’s “Piglet” who gets the worst of things when he ends up flying like a glorified kite - straight into the home of “Owl”. Now he’s the sensible one, as you’d expect, and is sitting out the storm in his armchair having a snooze. Well not for long, he isn’t, as the gale soon topples his tree and all of a sudden he ends up with a topsy-turby bungalow that’s completely …
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All poor old “Ferdy” wants to do is sit in peace and enjoy his flowery pasture, but when he gets stung by a bee he runs rampage and that impresses the local bigwigs who conclude he’d be a terror at the next bullfight. With posters everywhere depicting this terrifying and horned beast, he arrives in the ring only to have reverted to his old, gentle, self. No amount of provocation is going to get him to attack the toreador, especially when he espies a posy of flowers thrown into the arena that just reminds him of home. Might he ever manage to charge or is he just destined to head back to his lif…
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This reminded me a bit of “Violent Night” (2022) as it rather challenges the typical image of the avuncular Santa Claus. This one, here, is much more focussed on the folks who have been naughty, and with his advent calendar counting down with it's own sort of macabre biometric souvenirs, he has only four days left to complete his latest annual search for some nasties. “Billy” (Rohan Campbell) is the man whom we know dons the suit and who is egged on by a violent devil on his shoulder to keep motivated, but when they arrive in a small town preparing for the festivities, he meets “Pamela” (Ruby …
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When acclaimed musician “Oliver” (Archie Madekwe) comes into his boutique, shop worker “Matthew” (Théodore Pellerin) finds a more subtle way to attract his attention, and is swiftly invited to attend that night’s gig. After a bit of light-hearted initiation, he finds himself backstage then back at the band’s house where he develops a fairly rapid friendship with an “Oliver” who knows how to make him feel invaluable. He's an amateur photographer and is soon co-opted to work on a documentary, then a trip to London beckons and “Matty” is to do the photo shoot for the cover. By this point, though,…
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The truly outstanding aspect of this show was its cinematography. Hands down a beautifully shot series. It is intrinsic to the psychological game it plays, as the viewer's perspectives move, expand and retract with the position of the characters and their own perspectives reflected in the camera lens and it almost makes of cold blooded murder something cozy. Other than that, it unfortunately falls by its own weight. There's nothing crazy, much less innovative about the story's development, it's a cliché murder mystery that depicts the consequence of taunting with humanity's darkest desires.
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"Santa" (David Harbour) is getting a bit disillusioned with the whole Christmas thing. He is tired of delivering gifts to modern day children who live in an unappreciative, throw-away, culture and so has taken to the bottle rather. Leaving Bristol one night, he rather drunkenly crash-lands thousands of miles away at the compound of the wealthy and therefore entirely dysfunctional "LIghtstone" family. Now here we have group of people ruled over by matriarch "Gertrude" (Beverly D'Angelo - who just reminded me of Goldie Hawn) who are dealing with their own issues of separation, avarice, precociou…
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You know this is going to be gut-wrenching from the premise alone, your chest actually aches like it wasn't prepared once you get through it and, honestly, you weren't. Two years after its release, this piece of work remains truly prevalent, perhaps even moreso now that everything has aggravated tenfold. I come to watch this right after seeing Snow's appearance on Las Culturistas podcast and there's a brief mention of the true devastation that are her heavier performances... yeah, this, this might take the cake. Nothing like a shortfilm to truly showcase acting talent in the conciseness of con…
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