Category Archives: Movies

Review: Greenhouse

Posted on March 15, 2024 by philipbrasor

Lee Sol-hui’s impressive debut feature is formally characterized by ellipses. Though initially presented as a psychological drama about the fragile bonds of family, Lee’s concerted habit of leaving out crucial plot information has the effect of turning the story into … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Leave a comment

Review: Migration

Posted on March 14, 2024 by philipbrasor

Since the whole point of talking animals in animated films is to anthropomorphize typical critter behavior, children who view such films form the opinion that animals are just like us and probably are taken aback when they eventually discover they … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Review: The Night of the 12th

Posted on March 13, 2024 by philipbrasor

With a title that calls to mind the intense streaming drama, The Night of…, which has conquered three different markets (UK, US, Korea), Dominik Moll’s award-winning French police procedural suggests a ripped-from-actual-headlines thriller. Inspired by a true story, Moll refuses … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Review: Dogman

Posted on March 8, 2024 by philipbrasor

Having been hypnotized by Caleb Landry Jones as a mass murderer in the 2021 Australian feature Nitram, I passed over the fact that this similarly themed movie was written and directed by Luc Besson and gave it a whirl since … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Review: Maybe I Do

Posted on March 7, 2024 by philipbrasor

Despite certain heated discussions to the contrary, boomer movie stars, including women, continue to show up in leading roles as they enter their respective eighth or ninth decades on the planet; which isn’t to say they’re getting the quality of … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Argylle

Posted on March 2, 2024 by philipbrasor

It wasn’t until after I had seen Matthew Vaughn’s star-studded secret agent parody that I read the New Yorker feature explaining its premise and how it was conceived as the launch of a franchise—the creation of a hopefully lucrative IP. … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Cottontail

Posted on March 1, 2024 by philipbrasor

Like the proverbial broken clock that’s right twice a day, as an actor Lily Franky tends to work best when he happens to inhabit a character whose attitude aligns with his hangdog appearance. He’s not much on interpretation, and so … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Review: Little Richard: I Am Everything

Posted on February 29, 2024 by philipbrasor

There’s no way that a documentary about Little Richard, the king, queen, and “architect” (his self-description) of rock and roll, was ever going to be dull, but Lisa Cortes’s study, completed three years after the singer’s death at age 87, … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Leave a comment

Review: Feast

Posted on February 28, 2024 by philipbrasor

Brillante Mendoza’s Feast, which was produced by a Hong Kong company, is one of his more conventional movies, and as such continuously perplexed me. Though it plays up the Philippine director’s normal strengths, it moves in a direction that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Review: Next Goal Wins

Posted on February 24, 2024 by philipbrasor

Of all the genres that beat the “inspired by true events” dead horse, sports movies are probably the most egregious in terms of making shit up. Taika Waititi, whose last film, Jojo Rabbit, even managed to perplex a lot of … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | Leave a comment