FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/the-testament-of-ann-lee-review/
"The Testament of Ann Lee is a distinct, ambitiously formal historical vision by Mona Fastvold. It has its ups and downs, but it reaches 'safe harbor' thanks to the magnetic force and total commitment of Amanda Seyfried to the role of a figure of absolute conviction.
Although the songs and production design create an often engaging audiovisual environment, the rhythmic repetition and lack of a stronger narrative "bite" prevent it from being the historical and musical epic it promised.
It's a peculiar ex…
Read full review →
**_South American jungle adventure with Lisa Blount and Richard Lynch_**
Shot in the summer of 1984, this was helmed by the director of “Cannibal Holocaust” from five years prior. Wes Craven was originally attached to the production when its working title was “Marimba,” but by the time it was made he had zero input, not even a writing credit. The only ostensible holdover from his involvement might be the intimidating Michael Berryman with his peculiar bald look; he of course was the main antagonist of Craven's “The Hills Have Eyes.”
Don’t expect a sense of humor, such as in the l…
Read full review →
FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://talkingfilms.net/sentimental-value-review-joachim-triers-profound-meditation-on-art-grief-and-forgiveness/
"Sentimental Value is, ultimately, a mature and profoundly moving movie that resonates with the authorial mark of Joachim Trier.
The film triumphs thanks to the strength of its narrative and the excellence of the four central performances. It's a meditation on inherited pain, the intricate cost of artistic creation, and the difficult, yet essential, path to forgiveness and reconciliation. The assured direction and the melancholic atmosphere consoli…
Read full review →
What a beautiful and sad movie. It was very heart-touching and well made. This movie deserves much higher ratings.…
Read full review →
**_Rutger Hauer as a blind Vietnam vet and master swordsman_**
This was inspired by the Japanese film “Zatoichi Challenged” (1967), but I’m sure Marvel’s Daredevil was an influence as well (the character debuted in early 1964 and so had been around for 25 years when this debuted). There’s also some influence from Eastwood’s “The Gauntlet.”
It’s surprisingly good with fleshed out characters, quality locations, lots of action and an effective sense of humor. Blonde Lisa Blount is a plus on the female front, along with a couple of other peripheral casino women. The mighty “Terminat…
Read full review →
This is one of my favourite early examples of the dog-eat-dog world in prison as the young “Marlowe” (Robert Montgomery) is sent down for a decade after a road accident led to a fatality. Not surprisingly, he’s as anxious as hell - not least when he learns that he is to share facilities with “Morgan” (Chester Morris) and convicted murderer “Butch” (Wallace Beery). The governor (Lewis Stone) is broadly sympathetic, as is the chief warder (George F. Marlon) as they reckon putting this naive and impressionable young man in with folks like this isn’t going to aid his chances of survival, much less…
Read full review →
Reduced to the status of being a number not a name, “Walters” (Howard Phillips) has been sentenced to death for a murder he protests that he did not commit. Into prison he goes, to share a cell with “Mears” (Preston Foster) who makes no such claims to innocence. Therefore he reckons he has little to lose when he organises a prison revolt against the hitherto fairly benign rule of it’s governor (Walter Walker). Whether he likes it or not, “Walters” is going to be caught up in this drama - damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. With the armed officers now lined up outside and his thuggish, …
Read full review →
Technically, this one’s pretty solid — fits the whole vibe perfectly. It’s not just aesthetic for the sake of aesthetic, but you can actually feel that quiet, gloomy mood all the way through. It’s about people who’ve lost their place — outcasts, runaways, illegal immigrants — just floating around with no real direction in life.
It could’ve hit harder though. Somewhere in the middle to the end it kinda loses track, like the film itself’s not sure where it wants to go. But hey, I still enjoyed it — the cast nailed it, and the cinematography? Chef’s kiss, seriously beautiful.…
Read full review →
It’s not often that you get a plausible gangster movie told from the perspective of a fifteen year old girl, but here Ghjuvanna Benedetti delivers a really personable performance as the young “Lesia”. She lives on Corsica with her aunt, has a boyfriend and leads a fairly normal teenager’s life. That is, until she is summoned to meet her dad in a luxury villa. Once she arrives, it becomes clear that she and “Pierre-Paul” (Saveriu Santucci) are fairly close and that much of their distance in their relationship is necessitated by the fact that he is the local “Don”. Along with a few loyal family …
Read full review →
There’s something really effectively claustrophobic about this one-man crime drama. “Asger” (Jakob Cedergren) is a cop, not without his own baggage, reluctantly manning the emergency line when he gets a worryingly intriguing call from a woman who is clearly in distress. He establishes that she is on a motorway, in a white van and has two children who have been left alone at their home. As his shift is coming to an end, he focuses all his attentions on gleaning what he can from her, her six year old daughter and from her estranged husband who would appear to be involved in this mystery too. It’…
Read full review →
