Lord Of lllusions (1995)

Occult neo-noir is a sub-sub genre that has few big screen entries and Clive Barker’s Lord Of Illusions (1995) has always intrigued me, even though it has a mixed reputation with some defenders. Much like the loopy people in the Mojave desert, where this film opens, who pledge their sanity to a man named Nix […]

Time And Tide (2000)

After recently enjoying Hong Kong director Tsui Hark’s collaborations with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Double Team and Knock Off, for their visual kinetic energy and their “what the fuck” madcap action, it was a welcome surprise to discover his return to Hong Kong action cinema, Time and Tide (2000), was available on Netflix in Australia. Now […]

Love Streams (1984)

I really love revisiting John Cassavetes’ films – often, it feels like you have to acclimatise to the tones. The characters aren’t asking you to love them: they are tough to take. Love Streams (1984) I only saw for the first time a couple of years back and was always keen to revisit. While it’s […]

Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (1974)

That craggy, beaten face is first seen hiding behind a big pair of dark shades, a wide smile accentuated by a moustache, playing piano in a dive bar, looking to make visitors smile and sing along in order to fill that bowl with cash tips. While apparently Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (1974) […]

Personal Shopper (2014)

Irma Vep might be director Olivier Assayas’ high-point and the first film I saw of his back in the late 1990s. I’m a fan of Assayas when he also skirts with the thriller genre, the films of his that involve tracking characters through geo-political espionage such as Demonlover, Boarding Gate (one of my faves) and […]