After Don’t Look Now, I was clearly in the mood for more 1970s horror movies with twist endings starring Donald Sutherland. Though this one is more of a straightforward sci-fi, with a lot more alien goo and Leonard Nimoy.
A haunting adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novella, Don’t Look Now only turns into true chilling horror during its shocking conclusion, but that’s not to diminish the film’s ability to get under your skin (and make Venice, of all places, feel truly creepy).
“Man buys a sex doll on the internet” is an unlikely premise for a sweet, affecting and life-affirming story, but this quirky movie with early-day Ryan Gosling (before the world decided he was hot) somehow pulls it off.
I felt like something different, and this deeply strange and haunting 1972 film by Werner Herzog about the doomed 16th-century expedition into the Peruvian rain forest definitely hit the spot. It’s the kind of film that you’re never sure you liked in the conventional sense, but one that gets under your skin.
What to do when you’ve got an NBN outage and can’t stream? Go back to your DVD collection of course. I thought I’d re-watch one of my all-time favourite movies, this witty and brilliantly acted period drama that starts as deliciously wicked and ends as a tragedy.
I’ve been watching a lot of crime drama/comedy recently for some reason. In addition to Hot Fuzz and Leon: The Professional, plus re-visiting Godfather I & II and all five seasons of Breaking Bad, I’ve now watched Martin McDonagh’s 2008 black comedy caper. And yes it made me want to go to Bruges.
Frustratingly superficial but endearing biopic of the 1950s pin-up queen, mostly worth a look for Gretchen Mol’s irresistible and exuberant performance.
I confess that most of my knowledge about A Streetcar Named Desire came from a classic Simpsons episode. But now I finally unwrapped the 1951 adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ stage play, after the DVD sat on my shelves for years.
