There are sometimes actors that embody a word so perfectly, they might as well be the textbook example of it. But when it comes to Bill Nighy, he straddles two particular words — elegant and odd. Even in his bolder roles (e.g., the aging rocker Billy Mack in “Love Actually”) Nighy never loses his poise,…
“Every possible future points back to and is contained in this moment in time and space, and every possible past culminated in this moment” — Lawrence Tribe Loosely based on the 19th century novella of Friedrich de la Motte Fouque about an aquatic spirit who must marry a knight to gain a soul, but has…
“You can kill me if you want. I kind of wish you would.” Once Upon a River is a 92-minute, independent film that marks Haroula Rose’s debut as a feature film director, and an impressive first feature it is. Based on the novel published in 2011 by Bonnie Joe Campbell, a writer who has been…
Robin Wood’s “The Wicker Man” casts a giant, well, wicker man-shaped shadow over horror cinema, especially folk horror. From “Deliverance” to “Get Out,” from “The Blair Witch Project” to “Kill List,” the conceit of confident people from “mainstream” society going to a distant location and regretting it has yielded great results for horror filmmakers. Director…
Youthful rebellion goes on a road trip in Martin Monk’s short film Favourites, which offers a simple, patient look at how chance encounters can reframe our perspective on life. In an unbroken opening shot, we follow behind teen Sofia (Lia Wilfing) as she strolls determinedly alongside a busy Viennese road, sticking out her thumb and…
How many readers and cinema aficionados have a strained relationship with their parents? Maybe a there’s a neglecting mother to be ashamed of? Or how about daddy issues stemming from some form of abuse? Well . . . the animated horror story, To Your Last Death, introduces viewers to four siblings, all of them seriously…
When you sit down for a movie, it can go one of two ways: either it fulfills its purpose of entertaining the viewer or leaves them unsatisfied. And in the case of Roger Michell’s Blackbird, I felt myself falling into the second category. Because, though I am one for reinterpretations of classic tales, I’m not…
