Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2018)

All I knew about the Chinese film, Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2018; the title is appropriated from Eugene O’Neill’s play but has nothing to do with it) was that it had an unbroken shot that went for like an hour (59 minutes to be precise; basically the second half of the movie) and that […]

Thieves Like Us (1974)

About ten years ago, I purchased Thieves Like Us (1974) on DVD to be a completist on director Robert Altman’s career. After sitting in storage in my family garage inside a box of DVDS, it was finally reclaimed and rediscovered. Thieves Like Us isn’t as talked about in film circles, maybe it doesn’t have the […]

China Girl (1987)

I knew going in that this was director Abel Ferrara’s version of Romeo and Juliet. But China Girl (1987) feels more like an updated West Side Story. There’s a MTV energy in this night-time, neon-lit, wet-sidewalked vision of New York with young gangs clattering down darkened alleyways, climbing up chain-linked fences. At one point, a […]

Unrelated (2007)

Thank you to Kenta for recommending this film in an issue of VHS Tracking zine devoted to Summer Movies. The debut narrative feature by British director Joanna Hogg, Unrelated (2007) has a story when described that might sound like Shirley Valentine or a Diane Lane film like Under The Tuscan Sun. A lonely woman Anna […]

Donkey Skin (1970)

Donkey Skin (1970; Peau d’âne) is directed by Jacques Demy and apparently was his most successful movie in France, a lavish fairytale starring Catherine Devenue. In contrast to modern fairytales that rely on CGI to create a world of fantasy, this is very old school in its approach, filmed exteriors at an actual castle and […]