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“The Beguiled” Expresses Intrigue with a Quiet Lust and Sexiness
Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, a remake of a 1971 film starring Clint Eastwood, was a bit of a darling at Cannes this year. Coppola took home Best Director at the festival, which was only the second time a woman won the award. The film itself is a peculiar kind of Civil War era drama charged with the flavor of an erotic thriller or mystery. There’s a deep sexuality to the unraveling of the plot, as a single wounded male character navigates a school of isolated and curious women. The result is a tight tale of empowerment and intrigue, presented in a quiet and classical aesthetic.
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“War for the Planet of the Apes” Earns Another Victory for the Rebooted Franchise
Remember how Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a James Franco-laden disaster with John Lithgow wandering around forgetting everything and apes rampaged over the Golden Gate bridge being attacked by police helicopters? How far we’ve come. This Planet of the Apes reboot may be one of the most artistically successful reboots of a beloved franchise in the history of Hollywood, and it is almost entirely on the strength of the final two films – first with 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and now with War for the Planet of the Apes.
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TIFF 2017: The President’s Visit
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TIFF 2017: Creatura Dada
Check out my quick review of Creatura Dada at Cinema Axis.
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“It” Spoils Potent Storytelling with Commercialized Horror
It appears to be one of the most crowd-pleasing horror films in recent memory. But a crowd-pleasing horror film is something of a contradiction in terms. If everyone finds it to their liking, then how unnerving, scary, or boundary-pushing can it possibly be? I’m not saying that every horror film has to have people throwing up in the theaters like The Exorcist or scared out of their wits, but there is something wrong with a horror film feeling so conventional and comfortable.
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TIFF 2017: The Tesla World Light
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TIFF 2017: Tulipani: Love, Honour, and a Bicycle
I really liked this one. Check out my glowing review of Tulipani: Love, Honour, and a Bicycle at Cinema Axis.
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TIFF 2017: What Will People Say
Check out What Will People Say at Cinema Axis.
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State of the Blog – September 2017
Move to a new state, start a new job, and your movie blogging suffers. July was something of a testament to that, but I still got to see some cool movies. August was brutal, with only a couple of worthwhile releases, both of which I missed (but hope to get to soon). Anyway, Life Things™ are starting to get sorted, September will certainly be better than August with regards to releases, and thanks to my laziness, there’s a plethora of good content on the way.
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TIFF 2017: Threads
Long-Form Film Criticism and Fiction Writing by Derek Jacobs