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 […]

Pusher III (2005)

By the third entry in the Pusher series, there’s an assumed narrative trajectory and familar story pattern: the camera follows the protagonist as they slowly start to get in over their heads with deals and debts. Yet it’s interesting across the three movies how the tone is still uniquely set by the lead character and […]

The Other Side Of Hope (2017)

I knew of Finiish director Aki Kaurismaki and his work, vague memories of Leningrad Cowboys Go America always being screened on SBS, though I unfortunately never saw it from start to end. I thought it was time to watch one of Kaurismaki’s films, so why not start at the end, with what he has said in […]

I Am Sartana, Your Angel Of Death (1969)

I was not familiar with the Sartana spaghetti westerns until Arrow Video released a boxset, their remastered versions available on Tubi to stream. The first one I watched was I Am Sartana, Your Angel Of Death (1969; Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino), the second in the series, and what a character, dressed in all black […]

Split Second (1992)

One great thing about watching movies late night on TV when I was a kid was being able to almost watch two movies at the same time, flipping the channels during the ads from one movie to another that might be on. I feel like this is how I’ve seen the majority of Split Second […]