Claire Denis’ Beau Travail is considered a masterpiece by many, hailed as “one of the best films of the 1990s” by critics who probably also enjoy watching sand trickle through an hourglass for spiritual reasons. It’s taught in film schools. It’s dissected in think-pieces. It’s got a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, which makes sense if … Read More “Beau Travail (1999): Repressed Masculinity Dances Itself Off a Cliff” »
There’s arthouse slow. Then there’s Claire Denis slow. Then there’s No Fear, No Die—a film so lethargic and joyless it feels like you’re being mugged by ennui in real time. Released in 1990, this is Denis’ second feature, and if Chocolat was her sultry postcard from colonial despair, then No Fear, No Die is her … Read More “No Fear, No Die (1990): A Slow-Boiled Existential Chicken Fight” »
Claire Denis’ Chocolat (not to be confused with the 2000 Johnny Depp cocoa-flavored rom-com, which at least had the decency to serve dessert with its nonsense) is a film about colonialism, race, power, and, apparently, the thrill of doing absolutely nothing under the oppressive heat of the African sun. Released in 1988, Chocolat was Denis’ … Read More “Chocolat (1988): Colonial Ennui Served at Room Temperature” »
You ever wake up in a cold sweat after a dream that involved your mother, a rotting apartment, a penis monster, and Nathan Lane? That dream is called Beau Is Afraid. And unfortunately, it’s not a dream. It’s Ari Aster’s three-hour anxiety ransom note scrawled in edible mushroom ink and delivered via Joaquin Phoenix’s thousand-yard … Read More “Beau Is Afraid (2023): Ari Aster’s Three-Hour Panic Attack Masquerading as a Movie” »
Let’s get one thing straight: Hereditary isn’t a horror movie. It’s an anxiety disorder with a production budget. Written and directed by Ari Aster in 2018, this is the kind of film that gets called “elevated horror” by critics who get turned on by grief metaphors and rooms full of tiny furniture. What it really … Read More “Hereditary (2018): Family Trauma as Performance Art (Featuring Decapitations, Demons, and Toni Collette Screaming into the Void)” »
🌞 1. Premise That Promised Terror, Delivered a Yoga Retreat Ari Aster’s Midsommar pitches itself as a summer horror cocktail: break-up ritual, Sweden’s bizarre midsummer rites, and sacrificial spectacle. Instead, it feels more like being forced to attend a spiritual retreat you didn’t want to be invited to. Christian (Jack Reynor) and Dani (Florence Pugh) … Read More ““Midsommar” (2019) – A Sunlit Cult Trip That Leaves You With a Sunburn & an Identity Crisis” »
There are films about redemption, and then there are films about men who think they deserve it. Red Rocket (2021), directed by Sean Baker, is very much the latter. It’s a two-hour-long apology letter to the sleaziest guy at your high school reunion—the one who peaked during the Bush administration and now wants you to … Read More “Red Rocket (2021): The American Dream, as Told by a Greasy Thumbprint” »
Let’s be clear up front: Tangerine (2015) is not a movie—it’s a prolonged panic attack shot through a cracked iPhone lens while someone screams at you about their cheating boyfriend. Directed by Sean Baker (a man who, based on his filmography, desperately needs a hug and a studio lighting kit), this “gritty slice-of-life” indie flick … Read More “Tangerine (2015): Shot on an iPhone, Felt Like a Voicemail from Hell” »
Let’s get something out of the way: I admire Sean Baker. The man has an eye for realism and an ear for human struggle. The Florida Project? Great. Red Rocket? Weird, risky, and occasionally brilliant. But Prince of Broadway—his 2008 handheld hustle through New York’s knockoff handbag underworld—feels like watching someone rehearse for a good … Read More “Prince of Broadway (2008): Fake Bags, Real Boredom, and the Sound of Independent Filmmaking Drowning in Its Own Grit” »
🏨 1. Premise That Promised Raw Truth, Delivers Pastel Pretension Set outside Disney World, The Florida Project follows six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) and her bedraggled mother Halley (Bria Vinaite), living week to week in a rundown motel run by Bobby (Willem Dafoe). It’s pitched as a semi-documentary dive into childhood innocence amid hardship—but instead, it … Read More ““The Florida Project” (2016) – A Sunshine-Filtered Slice of Poverty That Refuses to Hurt” »
