The Villainess (2017)

The South Korean action film The Villainess (2017; Ak Nyeo) starts out high octane with a POV action sequence that’s like a video game (POV action doesn’t really do it for me, I think for action to be gripping you need to see the protagonist in the action) but once the camera whips around to […]

Wheelman (2017)

If you couldn’t get enough of films about get away drivers, there’s a Netflix Original called Wheelman (2017) starring Frank Grillo. Even though it looks like Drive and feels like an 80s Michael Mann thing, it’s more like Locke in that you are stuck in a car, watching an actor negotiate over the phone while […]

The Wailing (2016)

The Wailing (2016; Gokseong) is a two and a half hour South Korean horror film that’s available to watch on Netflix. Set in a picturesque country town where it rains a lot, it starts off more as a comedy with the disinterested cop (Do-won Kwak) bumbling through crime scenes of a recent string of murders […]

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 […]