Legendary Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien (Millennium Mambo) is first and foremost a contemplative stylist, the idea of applying his kind of formalism to the wuxia genre is fascinating, and as ever, Hou’s execution is faultless, but martial arts fans are bound to feel perpetually cold-shouldered. Hou is a critical darling, and his best works – […]
Year: 2015
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The 25 Best Slasher Movies of All Time
The reference point for the slasher movie always seems to rest with Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Psycho. Made in 1960 on a shoe string budget and influenced by his own television show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the movie was a massive box office success and reinvented the horror genre overnight. However Psycho is not an out and […]
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The 14 Best Sci-fi Movies Influenced by ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-Beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time … Like Tears in Rain. Roy Blatty, Replicant — Blade Runner (1982) Everyone has to start somewhere. Long before 2001, […]
Louder Than Bombs – VIFF 2015 Review
Another subtle, shrewd, and deceivingly simple domestic drama from Joachim Trier (Oslo, August 31st), Louder Than Bombs also marks the Norwegian film director’s English-language debut. Centering on the travails of widower Gene (Gabriel Byrne) and his two grown sons, Jonah (Jesse Eisenberg) and Conrad (Devin Druid), who, three years prior, suffered the loss of their […]
Dheepan – VIFF 2015 Review
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2015, Jacque Audiard’s (Rust and Bone) most recent cinematic foray, Dheepan, is a disconsolate drama with gentle collisions and murderous folds. Starring activist/writer Anthonythasan Jesuthasan in the eponymous role, he’s a refugee from Sri Lanka, where he was a Tamil Tiger in the civil war that saw his […]
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15 Highly Anticipated Movies That Didn’t Live Up To The Hype
Hype is a powerful force. Films can live and die from it. Especially in this internet-based age, we get all excited for films as soon as they are announced. Expensive marketing media campaigns, viral trailer videos, and the remake and sequel culture of Hollywood, are some of the sources of this hype machine. Some films […]