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Even as I write this, I’m still giggling at the brain and eyeballs in the mason jar. I can’t entirely explain why I find it so oddly cute, but whatever the reason, such a prop wins me over in digesting this purely mesmerizing absurdity. I’m sure Jackie Kong, read the script and said, “let’s see how far we can stretch this” and turn BLOOD DINER into a true cult-classic, horror that generations will cherish and remember for decades to come. I think it worked. The plot is simple: two brothers, own and operate a vegetarian diner are collecting body…
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There are various intricacies that make ALWAYS SHINE feel like a vague homage to Ingmar Bergman’s PERSONA. The emotions of women are a horror subject within itself, where smashing one’s illusion of oneself in order to make another feel subservient challenges the relationship between two actresses Anna (Mackenzie Davis) and Beth (Caitlin Fitzgerald). These two besties go for a weekend girls trip up to Big Sur and during this trip the metaphorical claws of passive aggressiveness comes out to play. But what’s interesting to me is how the film begins. It opens with Beth auditioning for a part in…
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As much as I love art house director, Claire Denis, her up close and personal bizarre vision is poignant beyond expression. My immediate thought after viewing TROUBLE EVERY DAY is this: pain of desire, often ends in fire. If you can handle RAW then you’ll be able to handle this decadent love bite of a film. I’m also noticing how some French female filmmakers like Breillat or Ducournau tackle great liberties with such brazen attitudes and fearlessness in their conviction to capture horror when it comes to the human body. Claire Denis does what she does best and terrifyingly…
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EVANGELINE is reminiscent of THE CROW and I know there’s a major studio out there itching to revive, reboot and repackage it, but let me not stray away here. Being this is all about revenge in the wrongdoing of an innocent’s death, this subject has essentially become its own genre. It all begins with a young girl going off to college, her first real sense of freedom. Being young and naïve, of course evil is going to be lurking in the dark corners of one’s peripherals and that’s what kicks off the story. But what makes EVANGELINE different? Well,…
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MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND has the type of stoic, allure, where you’re not sure going in if its going to be a good or bad idea you stepped into this unpredictable world where your sympathy lies in the hands of one character, Luciana, played by Ana Asensio, who also wrote and directed the film. Its quite impressive to do the trifecta thing, but to pull it off is another thing entirely. The story takes place in New York City, a sort of beautiful island in its own heavenly way, but also takes its sweet time getting to the meat of…
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This comedy horror is a sly one and when you watch it you may not think much of it. You might think, it feels like there’s some awkward overacting going on here, or not enough substance to keep this messy plot straight. At one point you might even say out loud, “Why should I care!?” Don’t worry, its there. You just have to stick it out. In the opening sequence there’s a continuation of suburban homes in the San Fernando Valley juxtaposed with sinister synth music emulating the notion an ice cream truck is about to invade an innocent-looking…
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He said, “The French call an orgasm a small death.” This line struck me silly but also hooked me in thinking, ok what’s this filmmaker have up her sleeve, what is she playing with here? Initially, I had gone in under the impression this was a horror film, on the contrary it’s more along the border of a psychological thriller with a pedigree of innocence being lost. With Maisie Williams and Florence Pugh leading the charge in a coming of age story of girls understanding their sexuality with some melodrama pretext attached to it, well made me reconsider. There’s…
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Mary’s disillusionment with her profession is very common and while being a med student who can barely pay the bills, she finds an unconventional way to establish herself in the underground world as being a surgeon who does body modification for a hefty sum. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, sure but she quickly accumulates an aggressive following of individuals who also want to establish themselves with their identities by transforming their bodies. It’s a bizarre inspiration and collaboration, which essentially shows one person helping out another all from the perspective of a self assertive woman. She’s not some…
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INTRODUCTION As opposed to picking just 10 favorite movies for a whole decade, it seemed like more fun to explore themes, collaborations, connections and companies that impacted me. What follows are my ten PERSONAL favorite phenomena of the last decade… films that made me yell, “Oh My God” in the theater (or at home). If a film makes me audibly gasp, recoil, laugh, shatter or cheer, it has me forever. It doesn’t happen all the time, so when it does it’s noteworthy. Here are the 10 miracles from the 2010s that I will always come back to. 10. The…
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If there’s any hope for Universal after the CATS catastrophe in losing $70 million, it lays solely in the hands of Sam Mendes’ loosely based World War I film 1917. It’s cinematic glory at it’s best because it’s origination came from Mendes’ grandfather, Alfred Mendes who told it to him as a boy. Of course it was only fragments but as a filmmaker he was able to piece it together with skillful direction, detailed milieu, a beautiful score by the one and only Thomas Newman, cinematography that glides so seamlessly, all edited in a single continuous shot. Okay maybe…
[Film Reviews from a Female Brain]
MARISSA THE CINEPHILE 