Spanish movie, AKA El Hoyo. Goreng (Ivan Massagué) is a principled man who applies to be sent to “The Hole”, a prison, in order to quit smoking and read a lengthy book. At the end of six months, he will have earned an accredited diploma. The Hole involves 333 floors, with two people per level.Continue reading “‘The Platform’ Asks Some Disturbing Questions”
Tag Archives: review
‘The Turning’: You’ll Be Turning it Off
Loosely based on the Henry James novel The Turn of the Screw. It’s 1994, and Kate (Mackenzie Davis) is a perky schoolteacher who is hired on to be a nanny for young orphan Flora (Brooklynn Prince), who lives in a giant, giant house with only her maid, Mrs. Grose (Barbara Marten). The previous au pair,Continue reading “‘The Turning’: You’ll Be Turning it Off”
‘Underwater’: In the Mariana Trench, No One Can Hear You Scream
Norah (Kristen Stewart) is onboard the world’s deepest sub-aqueous drill. After a sudden pressure breach kills most of the crew, she and five other survivors, Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), Paul (T.J. Miller), Emily (Jessica Henwick), and Smith (John Gallagher Jr.) set out to hoof it through the ocean to the nearest vessel,Continue reading “‘Underwater’: In the Mariana Trench, No One Can Hear You Scream”
‘Haunt’ (2019): Don’t Stick Your Arm in Mystery Holes!
Not to be confused with the 2014 film of the same name, which I already reviewed here. It’s Halloween, and our six main characters are looking for a haunted house. We have main character Harper (Katie Stevens), her love interest Nathan (Will Brittain), her roommate Bailey (Lauren Alisa McClain), and her friends, token woman ofContinue reading “‘Haunt’ (2019): Don’t Stick Your Arm in Mystery Holes!”
‘The Shed’: A Decidedly Un-Sparkly Teen Vampire Dramedy
Stan (Jay Jay Warren) is living with his grandfather Ellis (Timothy Bottoms) on the edge of the woods. When neighbor Bane (Frank Whaley) is bitten by a vampire while hunting, he decides to snooze the day away in Ellis’s shed. This brings nothing but problems for Stan, as Bane tends to munch on anything thatContinue reading “‘The Shed’: A Decidedly Un-Sparkly Teen Vampire Dramedy”
‘In Fabric’: What In the Hell was That? (In a Good Way)
English movie, made by A24. London, sometime in the ’80s. Shoppers are highly enthused about the newly opened Dentley and Soper’s Trusted Department Store. The place is characterized both by reasonable prices and odd-speaking, Victorian-looking personnel. The majority of the movie concerns Sheila (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a single mum looking for love (though more than halfwayContinue reading “‘In Fabric’: What In the Hell was That? (In a Good Way)”
‘The Curse of Buckout Road’: Great Performances Make up for a Garbled Plot
Buckout Road, Westchester County, New York: “The most haunted road in America.” It’s a topic of study for Professor Hancock (Mayko Nguyen) and three of her students, Cleo (Dominique Provost-Chalkley), Erik (Kyle Mac), and Derek (Jim Watson), who are doing a presentation on creation and destruction of modern myth. Their quest to disprove the legendsContinue reading “‘The Curse of Buckout Road’: Great Performances Make up for a Garbled Plot”
‘Little Monsters’: You Need it in Your Life
Australian film, not to be confused with the 1989 movie of the same title, which I reviewed quite a while ago, here. Dave (Alexander England) is a subpar musician who’s just broken up with his girlfriend because they disagree on whether to have kids–he doesn’t want to. He crashes on his sister Tess’s (Kat Stewart)Continue reading “‘Little Monsters’: You Need it in Your Life”
‘The Tokoloshe’ is Absolutely Devastating
South African movie, in English and Zulu, by Black filmmaker Jerome Pikwane. Busi (it’s pronounced Boo-see–I’ve seen the movie, and I’m still reading it as Busy and I’m getting pissed at myself) (Petronella Tshuma) is living in abject poverty; her apartment building is condemned and she’s getting by on scraps. She vows to scrape upContinue reading “‘The Tokoloshe’ is Absolutely Devastating”
‘Black Christmas’ (2019): They Meant Well…
Christmas break is approaching, and the students at Hawthorne College are getting ready to party. And by party I mean the men are picking off the women because they’re possessed by the evil magic practiced by the founder of the college, Calvin Hawthorne. It’s up to a feisty band of fighters (with traditionally masculine names,Continue reading “‘Black Christmas’ (2019): They Meant Well…”
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