Unearthing Cinema

Is there a God? Is he still active? Is there such thing as coincidence? Or, is history perhaps written millennia before our birth, and none of us can escape our fate? I did not expect to ask myself these questions from a fucking television show, much less from one with a narrative, compelling characters, and… Continue reading D A R K – What Television Has Aspired To →

The Best Films (that I saw) of 2019 I was hoping to see and log a few more films before publishing this, but due to this coronavirus situation, I think, as an aspiring critic, I should give my recommendations now; for the struggle of choosing what to watch may be more relevant now than ever… Continue reading The Best Films of 2019. →

Year: 2019 Director: Ari Aster Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor 3/4 If nothing else, horror auteur Ari Aster has proven over the course of two films that he is a master at capturing the essence of grief and suffering. What he does with (or to?) his actors during filming, I am uncertain. But I’ve learned… Continue reading Midsommar- Movie Review →

Year: 2018 Director: Neill Jordan Starring: Chloe Grace-Moretz, Isabelle Huppert 3/4 After seeing The Prodigy only days earlier, it was entirely refreshing to see the lighting and color palette of Greta. Here is a thriller that doesn’t rely on dark tones and gray matter to shove its genre in your face. This doesn’t take away… Continue reading Greta- Movie Review →

Year: 1997 Director: Satoshi Kon Starring: Junko Iwao 4/4 I needed to see this film a second time to affirm my love for it. The first time, I was admittedly uncertain  how I felt about it. There’s a lot to digest in the Satoshi Kon masterpiece known as Perfect Blue, and certainly plenty to unpack… Continue reading Perfect Blue- Movie Review →

Year: 2018 Director: Asghar Farhadi Starring: Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz 3/4 Everybody Knows is clearly an exercise of great passion for everyone involved, but will it stand the test of time? While I enjoyed Asghar Farhadi’s latest, I am not terribly optimistic the answer is in this film’s favor. This is my first foray into… Continue reading Everybody Knows- Movie Review →

Year: 2019 Director: Nicholas McCarthy Starring: Taylor Schilling, Jackson Robert Scott 1.5/4 You know what I realized on the drive home from watching The Prodigy? Its title is completely irrelevant. If the character played by Jackson Robert Scott was completely average-minded, the film would be no different. No spark of genius is necessary for the… Continue reading The Prodigy- Movie Review →

Year: 2017 Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev Starring: Maryana Spivak, Aleksey Rozin, Matvei Novikov 4/4 Loveless begins with the eerie “11 Cycles of E” during the studio credits. Before we even glimpse into director Andrey Zvyagintsev’s world we get a taste of the dread in what’s to come. Then after beautifully composed stills of a frigid 2012… Continue reading Loveless- Movie Review →

Year: 2012 Director: Quentin Tarantino Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson 4/4 Django Unchained is the movie that made me fall in love with movies. For me, it transcended what cinema could do. At the time of its release, I had gone through phases of loving things like slasher… Continue reading Django Unchained- Movie Review →

Year: 2018 Director: Jonas Akerlund Starring: Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen, Jack Kilmer, Sky Ferreira 2/4 If there’s any real takeaway from Lords of Chaos, it’s that everyone with any moral compass or genuine opinions is a poser. At least, that’s what one can ascertain from watching this cinematic adaptation of the history book in which… Continue reading Lords of Chaos- Movie Review →