“One of the most polarizing movies in recent years.” – Richard Roeper Stranger in a strange land Geometric circular shapes coalesce and converge in an abstract play of light and gloom, almost like a constellation or the orbital trajectory of planets, until, looming large, a sinister eye seems to burst into being, staring directly […]
Pulling Focus
Pulling Focus: Blue Velvet (1986)
“Maybe I’m sick, but I want to see that again.” – Pauline Kael It’s a strange world, isn’t it? Feigned amidst the well-manicured lawns and white-picket fences of small-town America breathes David Lynch’s darkly disturbing Blue Velvet. Shaken by a quickening dream logic and the upsetting affections of a bad-tempered film noir from the […]
Pulling Focus: Chungking Express (1994)
“I’m watching [Chungking Express] and all of a sudden I start crying –– tears started falling, about three different times during the movie. I was like, why am I crying? And it’s because my feelings for this movie run so deep –– I’m crying not about the movie, I’m crying because I’m just so happy […]
Pulling Focus: Halloween (1978)
“Halloween is an absolutely merciless thriller, a movie so violent and scary that, yes, I would compare it to Psycho. It’s a terrifying and creepy film about what one of the characters calls Evil Personified… Halloween is a visceral experience––we aren’t seeing the movie, we’re having it happen to us.” – Roger Ebert Baby […]
Pulling Focus: Videodrome (1983)
“No one makes movies like [Cronenberg].” – Martin Scorsese Long live the new flesh! Part aphrodisiac and part body horror hallucination, Videodrome is a sensual, shocking, and scary tour de force from Canadian iconoclast David Cronenberg. Embellishing and protracting his persistent interests in viral transference and the body as a collective and biological theater […]
Pulling Focus: Carrie (1976)
“Carrie effortlessly straddles, and frequently blurs, the line between exploitation trash and serious-minded cinema” – Paul O’Callaghan, BFI They’re all gonna laugh at you! Following after the minor successes of Sisters (1973), Phantom of the Paradise (1974)––which would eventually have a substantial cult following––and Obsession (1976), Carrie would prove, once and for all, that […]