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 […]

First Love (2019)

First Love (2019; Hatsukoi) combines a couple of my favourite sub-genres: One Wild Night and Multiple Parties Want One Thing. Directed by the prolific Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike (13 Assassins, Blade Of The Immortal), we follow a young boxer Leo (Masataka Kubota) who goes from shiftless to despondent when he receives some bad news after […]

About Endlessness (2019)

Swedish director Roy Andersson’s films have a distinctive style and tone, which you’ll either be on board for or have no patience with. About Endlessness (2019; Om det oändliga) follows in the tradition of his previous trilogy of movies – Songs From The Second Floor; You, The Living; and A Pigeon Sat On A Branch […]

Sibyl (2019)

I think I had the mistaken impression that Sibyl (2019) was an erotic thriller (the first act initially made me think of Francois Ozon’s Double Lover), which it isn’t. But there’s lots of intrigue and tension throughout, a psychological character study that is about a few things at once: sexual desire, substance addiction, creative process, […]

Security (2017)

Antonio Banderas’ soulful performance in Pain And Glory made me really re-appreciate him as an actor. But also seeing him carry a Direct to Video action movie called Security (2017) was another testament to his presence and talent. Banderas is not sleep walking through this moderately budgeted B-movie Die Hard rip off where he plays […]