March 22, 2010

City of God (Fernando Meirelles, 2002)

A reviewer compared City of God to Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990) and many parallels could be made between the two. As they both fall into the genre of gangster films, they depict violence in a raw, uninhibited way, in a realist fashion. City of God, with its documentary-style aesthetic—camera shakes, voice-over narration, etc., uses that realism to emphasize its story’s […]
December 16, 2013

HK: Hentai Kamen (Yûichi Fukuda, 2013)

Apart from the fact that it’s one of the most entertaining films of 2013, the best thing about HK: Hentai Kamen is the joy of having to explain its premise to people, to witness their flabbergasted stare and assure them that “it’s really, really good”. Actually, it is really good because its parody comes from a place of love for […]
March 29, 2010

Sukiyaki Western Django (Takashi Miike, 2007)

Sukiyaki Western Django virtuously evokes in its narrative Sergio Leone westerns, samurai films and Japanese classic films like Yojimbo.
February 16, 2011

Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, 2010)

Blue Valentine follows a married couple in turmoil, and recalls their relationship’s romantic beginnings as it threatens to unravel in the present.
March 29, 2010

Little Children (Todd Field, 2006)

Although true at times, Little Children never compels as the story suffers from the same shortcoming as In the Bedroom: it is merely an actors’ showcase.