When it comes to compiling "Best _ of All Time" lists, I generally find the process more interesting than the final lists themselves. For me personally, I obsess for hours over the internal debates and criteria which only make sense to me. Once those decisions are made, all that is left to do is record... Continue Reading →
What's in a list, anyway? It's something I've struggled with throughout my time as an online writer. But when you're considering a set list of, as the BFI so brazenly puts it, the greatest films of all time, it becomes apparent that a list - any list - must encompass both a sense of inflexibility... Continue Reading →
Imagine you are a filmmaker coming off the most well regarded film of your career. It’s the film that maybe you don’t realize now but will become what you’re best known. Regardless, the question that will be asked of you is “What’s next?” There’s two paths you can take. Do what’s expected of you, or... Continue Reading →
About a third of the way through Seed of Chucky, Glen (occasionally Glenda) sees their parents, murderous dolls Chucky and Tiffany, brutally murder someone. Later that night, they asks their parents why do they kill. The two dolls look at each other flabbergasted. It’s framed as the awkward question a parent isn’t ready to explain... Continue Reading →
A friend and I earlier this year lamented that Yoshiaki Kawajiri hadn’t directed a movie since a 2006 animated Highlander movie. If Japanese animation, or anime, hooked you in the 90s, that disappointment is palpable. Kawajiri’s work on the surface displays every cliche about anime from the 90s. His work tends to be both ultra... Continue Reading →
Being Film #5 for Hooptober 2022 After my positive experience with X, I decided to travel back to the beginning and take another look at The House of the Devil, West's first feature from 2009. I probably hadn't see the film since about that time, and although the years have certainly been kinder, my initial... Continue Reading →
Being Film #29 for Hooptober 2021 Back when I was a teenager there were these things called video stores. But I didn't live in the most urban of areas so instead we would rent our VHS tapes from pharmacies and gas stations. Sometimes these places didn't have the most popular movies, especially in the horror... Continue Reading →
Being Film #24 for Hooptober 2021 There really is nothing like a Sion Sono film. It's too easy to slip the "gonzo" tag onto any artist whose work straddles the line of garrish cartoons and meta commentary, over the top gore covering everything like...well, gore. The fact that Suicide Club still hasn't been upgraded to... Continue Reading →
Being Film #17 for Hooptober 2021 For a director with some many bonafide horror classics under his belt, including one of the greatest horror films of all time, Tobe Hooper got a bit of a bad break. By the time the 90s arrived he was relegated to smaller and smaller films with little opportunity to... Continue Reading →
Being Film #12 for Hooptober 2021 Another day, another horror debut from someone who went on to bigger and better things. This time it's writer/director Christopher Smith, whose Triangle was a sweet little mindf--k of a film I need to revisit. Despite a game cast in Franka Potente Sean Harris, Creep (not to be confused... Continue Reading →
Cinema Dual 