Stars At Noon (2022)

One thing I love about Claire Denis as a director is her relationship with the band Tindersticks – they score most of her movies. To the point that the two movies she directed in 2022 – Stars At Noon and Both Sides Of The Blade – both featured a similar moment in their trailers where […]

Heartbreakers (1984)

With its Tangerine Dream synth-wave score and gliding Michael Ballhaus cinematography, Heartbreakers (1984) exudes considerable neon-noir energy. Yet the movie has nothing to do with the crime or thriller genre. Instead, all that neon and energy is just the palpable aesthetic for a drama about male friendships. The film’s title card frames the two men […]

Scarlet Street (1945)

When a movie is in the public domain and is available everywhere, I often think that makes people less likely to check it out, particularly when there are some shocking versions in poor quality or if its a black-and-white movie that’s been colourised. Scarlet Street (1945) is in the public domain and I was also […]

Cure (1997)

Most horror films shout at you. Cure (1997), directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, never raises its voice. It maintains a steady whisper and is all the more unnerving for it. A Japanese horror film that was part of the ‘J-horror’ wave of the late 1990s, Cure almost stands outside of it by its ordinary, beige-brown palette […]

Frownland (2007)

I’d always been curious about Frownland (2007) ever since reading Roger Ebert’s review upon its release – it sounded uncompromising and aggravating, a punishing American indie “comedy”, the type of thing that would never get a cinema release (well, in Australia) and you would have to wait until an import DVD might be available at […]