Posted in April 2015

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, 2.20, “AC/DC”

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, 2.20, “AC/DC”

“We now break our usual third-person omniscient mode in service to a desperate first-person plea: Can somebody please make me a pair of .gifs of Rosa’s and Holt’s amazing mid-episode reaction shots during their ill-fated double date with Marcus and Kevin? Stephanie Beatriz and Andre Braugher are both great at wry humor and articulating hilarity … Continue reading

IFFBoston: First Dispatch

IFFBoston: First Dispatch

“There may be no more fitting way to kick off a celebration of storytellers than with a portrait of a storyteller, so combining Independent Film Festival Boston with The End of the Tour feels simply felicitous. This is the second time a James Ponsoldt film has commenced festivities at New England’s largest film festival; he … Continue reading

Review: Unfriended, 2015, dir. Levan Gabriadze

Review: Unfriended, 2015, dir. Levan Gabriadze

“Horror on a webcam” is neither a fresh aesthetic nor a new idea. Nacho Vigalondo’s unfortunately overcomplicated Open Windows and the 2012 omnibus joint V/H/S both use Skype chats to variable effect; if we want to duck genre, then it’s worth pointing out that Modern Family presented an entire episode using FaceTime as the stage … Continue reading

Review: Rebels of the Neon God, 1992, dir. Tsai Ming-liang

Review: Rebels of the Neon God, 1992, dir. Tsai Ming-liang

“If Tsai Ming-liang hadn’t beaten Nicolas Winding Refn’s career to the punch by several years, Rebels of the Neon God would have been a killer moniker for one of the great Dane’s as-yet-unimagined future projects. Even in that alternate timeline, though, Tsai’s debut feature comes from such a culturally specific place that only he could … Continue reading

Review: The Dead Lands, 2015, dir. Toa Fraser

Review: The Dead Lands, 2015, dir. Toa Fraser

“Thirty years ago, give or take, Toa Fraser’s The Dead Lands would have fit in nicely during the period’s boom of heroic fantasy films—Krull, Hawk the Slayer, Conan the Barbarian, Fire and Ice, The Sword and the Sorcerer—save for a paucity of camp. Not that The Dead Lands is an entirely somber affair, mind you, … Continue reading

WTH Just Happened?: ‘Where is Mama’s Boy?’

WTH Just Happened?: ‘Where is Mama’s Boy?’

“Ever blind-watched a movie just because you recognized its supporting cast? Have you ever thought to yourself, “Hey, I know this person from the secondary roles they’ve played in internationally prominent films!” and used that as justification to check out the random, obscure titles they spend most of their timing slumming it in? If so, … Continue reading