Bad movies come in many varieties. There are the dull ones, the ones with continuity errors and sloppy technical aspects, the ones with howlingly bad performances. There are offensive ones, or ones that simply don’t work on their own terms. There are the ones whose sheer terribleness provokes amazement and joy – the “so bad, it’s good” entries in the cinematic pantheon.
If anyone doubts that Gugu Mbatha-Raw deserves to be a star, Beyond The Lights would like to have a word with you.
As pop star Noni (dressed and outfitted in a vaguely Rhianna and/or Beyonce mold), Mbatha-Raw is captivating in every frame.
The Philip addressed in the title is Philip Louis Friedman (Jason Schwartzman). He’s an author – his second book has just come out, after his first received significant acclaim. His mentor is Ike Zimmerman (Jonathan Pryce), a famous but reclusive, long-in-the-tooth writer who had tremendous success himself decades prior, but now spends most of his time playing the role of The Great Author, rather than actually writing.
Oculus is a horror movie about a killer mirror that kills people, with death.
It jumps back and forth between an adult brother and sister investigating it in the present day and their earlier childhood experiences with its misdeeds, when it terrorized their family.
Part of an ongoing effort to watch each of the films in Roger Ebert’s Great Movies series. The introduction and full list can be found here.
“It is a tale of temple bells, sounding at sunset before the image of Buddha; it is a tale of love and lovers; and it is a tale of tears.”
Part of an ongoing effort to watch each of the films in Roger Ebert’s Great Movies series. The introduction and full list can be found here.
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” – William Faulkner
It’s hard to figure out how to approach The Birth of a Nation, released 100 years ago this month.
“In the event that find certain sequences or ideas disturbing, please bear in mind that this is your fault, not ours. You will need to see the picture again and again, until you understand everything.”
This delightfully caustic warning, uttered by director/star Steven Soderbergh in the first moments of the film, sets the tone for Schizopolis.