El Planeta (2021)

A box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates in a display window. Filmed in digital black and white, a framed image that the camera lingers on and one of my favourite shots in the movie El Planeta (2021). In the Spanish town of Gijon, there are numerous shops boarded up, closed down on account of a recession. […]

A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) feels like where Freddy Krueger graduated to pop culture mascot status (I mean, he’s rapping with The Fat Boys over the closing credits). From what I gather, this was the highest grossing of the series at the box office, and it vibes with franchise confidence. […]

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 […]

Bay Of Angels (1963)

From the very first shot I knew I’d made the right decision to watch Bay Of Angels (1963; La baie des anges): it’s a shot of glamorous Jeanne Moreau standing in a street near the water at Monte Carlo, the camera immediately pulling away and racing backwards down the street. Directed by Jacques Demy, his […]

Rancho Deluxe (1975)

Rancho Deluxe (1975) is a hang-out movie but also a wavelength. Whether you enjoy it or not is dependent on your taste for something plotless, loose and low-key. Plus if you find a young Jeff Bridges and a young Sam Waterson to be a charismatic pair of actors to hang out with (though you will […]