Author: VHS Tracking
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Stray Dog (1949)
In Akira Kurosawa’s Stray Dog (1949; Nora inu), a young Toshiro Mifune plays a rookie detective named Murakami who feels shame and twists himself in knots over losing his newly acquired Colt pistol to a pick-pocket on a tram. This is both a film noir and a police procedural, which seems to have influences on… Read.
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Swallow (2019)
I was very interested to see the film Swallow (2019) turn up on Stan’s streaming services in Australia after reading reviews of its festival and arthouse run in the US before cinemas closed down. A warning right from the start is that this is not a film for everyone. Swallow stars Haley Bennett, who has… Read.
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In Fabric (2018)
Peter Strickland is a British director I have time for, because of his second and third films, Berberian Sound Studio and The Duke Of Burgundy, playing with older genre forms (Italian horror movies, European erotica) and crafting art-house homages that almost have an academic, clinical bent. Strickland’s latest film, In Fabric (2018) is a strange… Read.
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Hour Of The Wolf (1968)
Ingmar Bergman had always been a blind spot in my film knowledge. To be honest, I was compelled to finally watch more of his work due to an A24 podcast conversation between Ari Aster and Robert Eggers where they talked at length about his influence on their work in horror. That and the availability of… Read.
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Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)
I remember some DJ night at The Bird when someone ended their set, or played as ‘closing up’ music, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s theme to Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983). I mean, what an all timer piece of music, so ethereal, plaintive, calming, just plain beautiful. And it is kind of bizarre that it is the title… Read.
