Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is the master of the uncanny. This is most evident in his J-horror staples - and cult classics - Pulse and Cure, but carries into wider work that takes place in filmic worlds that are always slightly uncomfortable, sometimes in a way that's hard to articulate - in a way you just … Continue reading To the Ends of the Earth (Review)
Ben Rivers' experimental film begins with the filmmaker being given a tarot reading. This moment is looped back to at the end and foregrounds the film's major themes. On its most basic level, this a filmic scrapbook that chronicles the passing of time: there are twelve chapters, one per month, and each is made up … Continue reading Ghost Strata (Review)
There is a recent trend in horror for making very pretty films in which not much happens. Sometimes, this works, but only if the nothing really happening serves a purpose that the aesthetic further highlights. The Other Lamb looks very pretty, and not much happens in it - or, more accurately, nothing really happens that … Continue reading The Other Lamb (Review)
A great documentary requires a great subject. The figure at the heart of this documentary, Cassandro, is certainly that. They are a cross dressing Mexican wrestler who is openly gay and flamboyant in an area where traditional masculinity often reigns. The documentary goes into the impact of their sexuality on their life and career; the … Continue reading Cassandro, The Exotico! (Review)
On a purely aesthetic level, Pablo Larraín's Ema is utterly spellbinding. The entire film is full of entrancing, and often ethereal, imagery (despite its realist trappings), bathed in neon hues and marked by striking cinematography. A lot of this is due to the film's focus on dance; our eponymous protagonist is a dancer (primarily of … Continue reading Ema (Review)
There's something inherently cinematic about a closed box. Open boxes? They aren't interesting. Closed boxes are instant enigmas full of potential, in which the obfuscation is the appeal. The Whalebone Box relies on this appeal and plays nicely with this idea. On its most basic level, this video collage by Andrew Kotting is about taking … Continue reading The Whalebone Box (Review)
As if In Fabric hadn't already established Peter Strickland as one of the most bizarre and challenging directors of the year, along comes his new short film GUO4. GUO4 is part deconstruction of cinema; part male erotica; part exploration of masculinity and part music video - thought the most bizarre music video you'll see (and … Continue reading GUO4 (Review)
Assorted Opinions 