The devastating fire that struck Paris’ Notre-Dame cathedral in 1999 was always going to lend itself to a film adaptation. While it is surprising to see it be made quite so soon, it is even more surprising to discover what … Continue reading AFFFF: Notre-Dame on Fire (2022)
On its final voyage across the ocean before it is decommissioned, the luxury liner Poseidon is struck by a tsunami that capsizes the vessel. With much of the crew and passengers dead, a small group of survivors led by firebrand … Continue reading REVIEW: The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Few figures cast as long a shadow over Japanese comic art and animation as Osamu Tezuka. From 1947 to his death in 1989, Tezuka was the most influential writer/artist and animation director of his age. He was personally inspired by … Continue reading REVIEW: Tezuka’s Barbara (2019)
High school senior Itsumi Shiraishi (Marie Iitoyo) falls to her death from a building at the exclusive Seibo Maria Girls High School. She was the school administrator’s daughter and the President of the school’s prestigious literary club. Now, in the … Continue reading REVIEW: The Dark Maidens (2017)
In 1830, the body of a West Point military cadet is found hanged in the forest. Before the body may be examined by the academy’s doctor (Toby Jones), its heart is mysteriously cut out. Retired detective Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) … Continue reading REVIEW: The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
Better Days truly is one hell of a thing. From what seem to be social realist beginnings, Derek Tsang’s fourth film shifts effortlessly into a genuinely touching melodrama and then again into a violent thriller. It is an impressive feat to … Continue reading REVIEW: Better Days (2019)
Kosuke Nakahama’s feature directing debut B|B is a short, strange, and utterly vivid concoction, one that rockets along for 77 minutes with a pace akin to getting strafed with machine gun fire. It is Nakahama’s graduate film project, and that shows through … Continue reading REVIEW: B|B (2020)
When Jaws was an unprecedented commercial success in 1975, it inspired every enterprising independent producer to make their own version to profit from the original’s success. I recently watched Michael Anderson’s 1977 film Orca, likely the most successful and well-remembered of these derivative … Continue reading REVIEW: Tentacles (1977)
Danish couple Bjørn and Louise travel on vacation with their daughter Agnes to Tuscany. There they meet a Dutch family – Patrick, Karin, and son Abel – and immediately hit it off. Once back at home, they receive an invitation … Continue reading REVIEW: Speak No Evil (2022)
There was a time, about 20 years ago, when M. Night Shyamalan was the hottest name in Hollywood thanks to a run of inventive original thrillers. The Sixth Sense shot the writer/director into the stratosphere with critics and audiences, and he found … Continue reading REVIEW: Nope (2022)
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