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“You can’t have dialogue without fear of judgement these days.” The statement above certainly enforces the notion we’re living in some agitated state of an Orwellian nightmare; constant agitation, constant scrutinization, constant tracking, constant manipulation, constant painstaking marketable propaganda soaked in revenue stressors. Of course society is having a meltdown as every man, woman, and child is out for themselves chasing some kind of purpose. With all this word vomit, are you ready to go down the rabbit hole of existential rumination? I’ve been wanting to revisit this film for quite a long while now and am extraordinarily grateful…
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It’s an extraordinary feat, one I prematurely criticized as garbage but have come to settle in the cloud of realization, that body horror in filmmaking has an edge most mainstream audiences like to ignore for being so blatantly gruesome. I feel like I fell into that category for some years, but after endless research, I came to the rough conclusion I’ve always been a body horror fan and failed to realize it. Being a firm enthusiast and mainstream fan of Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN as one if not my only favorite gothic horror story is entirely drenched in body horror.…
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The world is coming to an end! Its political satire, obviously where all the jabs are hit in all the right places. Yeah, this could totally happen when you have an incompetent body of government, who are strongly influenced by corporate war lords who control everything and make decisions that cost the environment and every living being on the planet of its survival. Netflix’s latest film by Adam McKay, DON’T LOOK UP is annoyingly stubborn when it comes to listening to a cold, hard, depressing truth from two astronomers, Kate (Jennifer Lawerence) and Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) who…
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There’s nothing more surreal than real life. In fact, sometimes it feels like watching fireworks in slow motion. I often wonder sometimes out of random curiosity if I were to walk into a biker bar, conjure up a conversation about EASY RIDER with some dudes, had some sharp thoughts and laughter to share, drank some Shirley Temples, and all of a sudden had the inexplicable urge to go for a motorcycle ride with a complete stranger all the way to Florida, I too would have an exhilarating adventure to tell just like in Janicza Bravo’s ZOLA? ZOLA is an…
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An oddity with an offbeat demeanor, scavenging on the side of life, with ruthless compromise, vacant of familial bonding where survival is the only prize, all while dismissing the trap of capitalistic living. Miranda July’s quirky comedy KAJILLIONAIRE is strangely built, nearly echoing familiar ties to the tone of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE meets BRIGSBY BEAR meets CAPTAIN FANTASTIC. It’s sweet, offbeat, and thoroughly fleshed out with the deep concept of human connection, and what happens when it’s withheld, manifests the discovery of a person who struggles to process, comprehend and yearn for it. This is my first Miranda July film…
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I was really skeptical when I saw the trailer for Aaron Sorkin’s BEING THE RICARDOS but after much trepidation and predisposed judgment, I succumbed to my curiosity and now I am dazzled like a child who has just won a stuffed animal from a claw machine. OK first off, from what I’ve read, critics have lambasted Sorkin’s writing and maybe it’s his demeanor of consistently writing biopics or turbulent events throughout history with intelligent virtuosity. In fact, I’ve read some petty tantrums all across Twitter over certain vernacular from a specific piece of dialogue that Nicole Kidman says about…
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I am so fascinated in studying the genesis and ethos of Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest feat that is LICORICE PIZZA. He’s delved up inspiration from reconstructing notable personas into some hilarious human moments, influenced from revered friendships, and personal anecdotes, all percolating as he was ruminating on a walk in his own neighborhood eons ago. I especially appreciate his sensibility to swat away the little voice in his head that probably said, “Are you really going to make another movie that takes place in the San Fernando Valley in the 70’s?” Hell yeah, he did and it’s better than…
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The opening monologue given by Michael Stuhlbarg’s character Richard Sackler in Hulu’s latest mini series DOPESICK hovers sharply on the twisted notion that he can cure pain with an addictive narcotic known as Oxycontin. Spoiler alert! You can’t. It has made my stomach twist in ways I never thought possible. Pure evil. Sinister. These slick suit wearing yuckos make me want to projectile vomit on their lavish arrogance which inherently makes them turn the world upside down. A simple lie upends every system that’s used to safeguard people from harm and at every single turn, it freaking fails. Just…
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OK, so it’s a poorly acted film. It’s plot is recognizable, absolutely predictable from a universal standpoint. The dialogue is too cheesy to even repeat. Depth is not even part of its orbit. In fact it’s a wannabe SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER but for roller skating, there’s even a brief snippet of the poster shown in the film to prove it. Mark Lester’s 1979 ROLLER BOOGIE is a beautiful disaster and I adore it. Aside from all of its shortcomings, and as much as I salivate at the mouth over the 70s era, cinematography shot on actual film, Linda Blair,…
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I’m going to say it. This would have made for a better short film. Two hours is too long. Trim off the fat, tighten the story line, have fewer characters and make this a low budget thrill fest. Sigh. If you enjoyed the twist at the end of THE SIXTH SENSE then you might, just MIGHT find digesting M. Night Shyamalan’s OLD as something palatable. I on the other hand felt like I endured a two hour whiplash equivalent to the time of when I watched Darren Aronofsky’s MOTHER! I mean I clenched my jaw and thighs while watching…
[Film Reviews from a Female Brain]
MARISSA THE CINEPHILE 