The Headless Woman (2008)

I always loved that in their Criterion Closet YouTube video, Lucrecia Martel selected Carnival Of Souls and said something to the effect of, that it was enough to make one film if it was as great as that. Only after I had watched Martel’s film, The Headless Woman (2008), did I see its connection to […]

After The Storm (2016)

One evening, I was looking for something soothing and gentle for a movie, and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s After The Storm (2016; Umi yori mo Mada Fukaku) worked its charms on me. I’ve only seen Kore-eda’s Shoplifters and that had me bawling at the end, with its displays of human kindness and compassion in an unjust world. […]

Let The Corpses Tan (2017)

A leather glove tightened. Sweat dripping down a lined face. The snap of a firearm being loaded. The glow emanating from a gold bar. Let The Corpses Tan (2017; Laissez bronzer les cadavres) luxuriates in these details, fetishing them in close up and heightened sound design. As filmmakers, Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani have a […]

Demonlover (2002)

demonlover (2002) is like later period William Gibson: it’s not about putting on the goggles and jacking into the cyberspace, but more about corporate espionage. I love French director Olivier Assayas in this mode – post-Irma Vep genre studies of women at work and under duress (see also: Boarding Gate and Personal Shopper) in a […]

Radio On (1979)

I’ve never had a strong urge to travel. I’m happy to, when we could, but never felt that strong wanderlust. Over the past two years though, I’ve fallen more and more in love with movies that travel. A certain type of arthouse vibe that’s not about sight seeing or having a good time. Usually it’s […]