Certain Women (2016)

Certain Women (2016) is based on the short stories by Maile Meloy, and set and shot in Montana, small towns and wide open plains, everything overcast and grey, filmed as a space of both beauty and loneliness. Three short narratives play out – a lawyer’s (Laura Dern) interaction with a disgruntled client (Jared Harris), a […]

First Reformed (2018)

Paul Schrader has been in the direct-to-video weeds for a few movies with mixed results (I disliked The Canyons but quite enjoyed the gonzo-noir of Dog Eat Dog). Even though critics praised First Reformed (2018) as a return to form, there was no cinema release for West Australian audiences – Schrader was still direct-to-digital; it’s […]

Passion (2012)

Brian De Palma’s Passion (2012), a remake of the French thriller Love Crime, received mixed reviews upon release. Having finally seen it, and enjoying it quite a lot, I think it’ll be like his previous film, Femme Fatale – in that in ten years’ time, critics and fans will re-evaluate and appreciate it. And I […]

Relaxer (2018)

Relaxer (2018) is a strange hybrid of Beavis and Butthead, Castaway and David Cronenberg. Set in one location, a dilapidated living room, and focused on Abbie (Joshua Burge) who suffers a tortured life of constant “challenges” by his older punker brother Cam (David Dastmalchian). Set in 1999 during the lead up to the millennium (and […]

Prospect (2018)

I was intrigued to see Prospect (2018) but it was my friend Adam Trainer’s recommendation that eventually made me select it from the Netflix menu. A low-budget science-fiction movie, Prospect initially focuses on a father and daughter duo (played by Jay Duplass and Sophie Thatcher respectively) who are prospectors for a rare, valuable commodity – […]