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There’s an inexplicable sting to Jean-Jacque Beineix’s 1986 French film, BETTY BLUE that entails a surplus of emotions befallen onto a couple in a plot making little to no sense. Today it would be looked at as an erotic, cult classic, but it’s also a bloated art film. As stated in the very definition of “Cinema du look” as its purpose is pure spectacle over any substantial narrative. This is important, because I’m going to completely refute the previous statement by finding significance in all the spectacle. I didn’t see it at first, but trust me guys it’s there…
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The love for cinema, like any cinephile will often explore and contemplate the contrast in films; storylines, actors’ performances, parallels of aesthetics, and of course themes and as Jean-Luc Godard once said, “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to” and of course, “There’s no such thing as intellectual property.” Perhaps, the conjecture of these statements is where his true reinvention of cinema really reverberated among the masses and what better vessel than his infamous 1960’s BREATHLESS or as the French say À bout de soufflé “Out of Breath.” So when asked about…
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I read in an article somewhere a writer had called Claire Denis a “mood” and even though I’ve barely scraped the surface in viewing her films, I can sense there is truth in that statement. Of course what were the odds the two films I’ve viewed recently, both Vendredi Soir (FRIDAY NIGHT) and Un Beau Soleil Intérieur (LET THE SUNSHINE IN), both tango heavily with the subject of female desire? It’s a tantalizing subject for any filmmaker to tackle and what also tends to lack so horribly in Hollywood films today. I just oh and ah at contrasting the parallels between the fantasy of Hollywood and the…
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I often enjoy the nuances of overreacted theatrics such as maniacal laughing and interpretive dancing, consequently, I feel morally ashamed when it’s expressed after callously killing someone. Stripping away this story down to its bare essentials, JOKER such as it is, is a character study, nothing more, nothing less. It’s heartless nature at times alleviates itself from tension created by the sheer uncomfortable situations brought on by the unkindness of humanity. If you’ve survived A CLOCKWORK ORANGE then you’ll probably survive JOKER because they share the same DNA, in terms of happy go lucky songs intertwined with expressive dance…
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After sitting through Tarantino’s “ninth film”, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, I need an adrenaline shot to the chest. Oh boy. I suppose I should keep reminding myself this is a fairy tale in a Tarantino universe. With that being said the lacking of a complex, narrative structure that barely grazes the surface of anything deeply sentimental besides the obvious bombardment of 1969 nostalgia is essentially all you need to know about this film and mostly dominated by men. Of course Hollywood is going to praise this film because it’s a story about Hollywood. The shallow dramas of…
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MIDSOMMAR wrecked me. Don’t get me wrong there’s catharsis in this film and even that isn’t entirely fulfilling. It’s the journey to get there that’s excruciating and exhausting. This is very much a superior “horror” film one I may rank up there with Lars Van Trier’s ANTICHRIST. Yeah, that one wrecked me too. There’s just some imagery you can never shake or erase from your memory ever and this is the power in Ari Aster’s films. I saw that in HEREDITARY and I should have known that going into MIDSOMMAR. Oh, silly me. There’s so much psychological warfare it nearly…
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Five hours before the series finale, I’ve just learned the significance of Hodor’s name and I’m crying. Two hours later, Ian McShane makes a random cameo while revealing the Hound is still alive! I nearly dislocated a rib in wild exclamation. Dammit, GAME OF THRONES, DAMMIT you’re not doing any wonders for my fragile immune system, I’m too emotionally involved now as you’re mostly likely about to dropkick your audience to hell. I am tortured beyond measure. Argle Bargle! Okay, so I didn’t immediately hop on the Throne bandwagon when the series burst onto the scene of premium entertainment back…
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Imagine a wide shot hovering over a woman as she walks with slight gumption through a city square, who has a very noticeable tear in her shirt. She has just casually stolen a blouse, from a nearby clothing store and while fleeing she pauses to smoke a cigarette. Within the first two minutes, you may feel this character has no redeeming quality and she hasn’t even uttered a word, that is until she’s on a metro train transcribing her poetic thoughts on a busted iPhone. This is the opening sequence to Jordan Blady’s SOFTNESS OF BODIES. After viewing the film…
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“It just seems to me women are alone and they are prisoner by their own love. They are made prisoner if they commit to something, once they have committed it’s a torture. And a man feels that also and nobody knows how to handle it.” – John Cassavetes from a mid 70s interview Everyone grapples with anxiety in one form or another and the way it’s displayed in John Cassavetes’ A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE is simply remarkable given the emotional intensity Gena Rowlands brings to the screen. It’s a film that will exhaust and challenge you, no doubt, but…
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Once upon a time there was young girl who was down on her luck. She fell out of her carriage and into the mud on the way to a job interview. Not the most flattering first impression to make on one’s potential employer but alas after an astute conversation, she was hired as a maid. And then one day she decided to do her due diligence and strive for something bigger. She wanted to change her stars, be something more, because what’s more alluring than having no wealth, prestige, and fame? Power. THE FAVOURITE has a fortitude built like no…
[Film Reviews from a Female Brain]
MARISSA THE CINEPHILE 