After the Hunt (2025)

A college student accuses her professor of inappropriate conduct. What kind of inappropriate conduct? The fuck if I know. I found this movie completely insufferable and infuriating, especially how everybody intellectualizes and talks circles around the issues without ever saying anything of value. The whole thing seems poised to generate controversy, yet I still have no idea what point it was trying to make. That everybody is a piece of shit? That was my general takeaway. I could have told you that without wasting two hours.

2 ulcers out of 5

Under the Silver Lake (2018)

A slacker with a fleeting sense of purpose stumbles upon the makings of a conspiracy while investigating the sudden disappearance of his mysterious neighbor. This movie is a fucking trip. A surreal neo-noir black comedy with deep Lynchian vibes reminiscent of Mulholland Drive. There's so much going on here, it almost shouldn't work, but it all comes together with a semblance of dream logic that reminded me of After Hours. This is the type of film that contains hidden layers of meaning that can linger on in the back of your mind for days at a time. Be careful not to look too deep or you might lose yourself.

4½ hobo codes out of 5

We Live in Time (2024)

Untethered by time, a couple's story unfolds in a nonlinear narrative, starting at the end when they receive bad news. We witness milestones in their lives, the typical stages of a relationship, with ups and downs, etc. I don't have a problem with a love story told well, but this felt a bit gimmicky. It goes through all the usual melodramatic tropes, but it mostly plays out in slow, boring and predictable fashion. The actors are at the top of their game, and there are sweet moments sprinkled throughout, but the material itself could have used a refresher. The whole thing ends up feeling cloying and manipulative. Don't we ALL live in time? Some of us just aren't so lucky.

(No, I can't stop looking at that fucking horse on the cover either.)

2½ Weetabix out of 5

SILENCE [2016]

After 27 years of toying with the idea, director Martin Scorsese finally tackles Silence, a film adaptation of Shūsaku Endō's novel of the same name.
Set in 17th Century Japan, a time when the Japanese were brutally exterminating anything or body related to Christianity.  two Jesuit priests quietly sneak into the nation in search for their missing mentor.
It's such a huge story but Scorsese scales it down into such intimacy it's very apparent the director approached the project with immensely personal feelings about it.  However dry the film might be in spots it never stops asking questions with emotional complexity to keep you captivated.  No matter how much it asks it seldom supplies answers and instead begs the viewer to seek out their own, should they ever find the correct one.

4 confessions too many out of 5

HACKSAW RIDGE [2016]

Mel Gibson makes a triumphant return to the director's chair with the horrifically violent war drama Hacksaw Ridge.
Based upon a true story, the film follows WWII army medic Desmond Doss, who famously refused to carry weapon and believed he was going to war to help rather than destroy, during the Battle of Okinawa.
Andrew Garfield delivers his best performance to date, proving he's going to be around for quite some time.  There's a certain amount of heroic beauty and heart found within the intense violence that will leave you emotionally drained.  There's been some magnificent battle scenes captured to film and Hacksaw Ridge should go down as some of the best.  A unique hero in a war film about peace.  They don't come around often enough.

5 pacifists out of 5

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

It's unmistakably Gilliam in its use of 2D environments on a 3D plane, and the physical sets and miniatures are spectacular, but the deplorable reliance on blue/green screen means the handmade quality and beautiful rough edges are eliminated. At those times it’s about as visually interesting as the next TV commercial trying to sell you insurance or a new car.
The story itself has a similar contrast, but it's used to better effect. The fantastical and the real exist side by side, with only one of the two states being oblivious to the other. Connecting them is the titular Doctor Parnassus, who does so for reasons that become clear as you watch.
Seeing the inside of Terry’s mind externalised and captured on film is hugely entertaining, but the CGI does an ugly job of presenting it to us.

3 sustaining stories out of 5

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 [2014]

The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb returns for the second part in what is proposed to be a quadrilogy.
Joined by Fringe & LOST writers Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci & Jeff Pinkner, Webb expands the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy into something much more flourishing and even more heartfelt than the original film.  With the heart of the story in place, comic book films need some worthy villains and that's where things get a little jumbled up.  Jamie Foxx and Dane DeHaan do a fine job at portraying the main baddies, Electro and Green Goblin, but it's the gaggle of other villains slipping in through the cracks that confuse things a bit, some are slapped right in your face, while others might only go noticed by comic book nerds.  It's a little unfocused plotwise but carries a heavier emotional weight that many felt was void from the first film.

3 Inter-web designs out of 5

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN [2012]

Aside from the point that director Marc Webb's take on Spidey is far too soon after Sam Raimi's hit & miss series of films, The Amazing Spider-Man is a most welcome addition to this decade's run of comic book adaptations.

Webb's confident direction and the impressive cast, particularly Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, give the film a bigger heart, funnier & sharper dialogue, a more emotional impact and an underlying darker edge compared to the previous Raimi efforts.  Unfortunately the main villain is a bit of a snooze and there's a scenes that do nothing but serve as "pop song" moments that hurt the narrative flow a bit.  We've seen it all before but that's all right, granted there's more on the way...'cuz it's really going to hurt come Gwen Stacy's *spoiler*...as if you don't all ready know, True Believer.  

4 non-great powers or responsibilities out of 5

NEVER LET ME GO [2010]

Director Mark Romanek & screenwriter Alex Garland adapt Kazuo Ishiguro's dystopian sci-fi novel Never Let Me Go with great success. 

This profoundly thoughtful coming of age drama is brilliantly disguised as a sci-fi film about harvesting clones.  We know from the very opening shot how it ends but forget as the film flashes back in time and focuses more on everything in between, leaving us emotionally unprepared for the inevitable.  Romanek makes use of warm colors and distant shots, giving it both life and a sense of lingering death.  The cast is perfect and never goes overboard with melodrama.  As devastating as the film is, it begs the viewer to make the best of what you have while it lasts.

5 sacrifices for nothing out of 5