criticism
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by Oscar O’Sullivan The town of Horizon is burning. We’ve watched for minutes now as Native Americans descend upon the settlers and mow them down, setting every structure aflame and battering down the barricades of the last survivors. It’s brutally violent without being graphic, lighting and tasteful angles concealing gore without blunting the impacts. Families…
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by Oscar O’Sullivan Monday – The Eagle and The Adventures of Prince Achmed Now The Man doesn’t want you to know this, but there are actually hundreds of movies just sitting on Youtube that you can watch for free whenever you want – welcome to the world of silent cinema. I won’t pretend watching silent…
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by Oscar O’Sullivan Monday – A Matter of Life and Death You may have noticed that I already reviewed this one – it’s such an exceptional film that it needed it’s own space. If you haven’t already you can read that review here. Tuesday – Black Narcissus Another film from director duo Michael Powell and…
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by Oscar O’Sullivan Monday – His Name Was King and Joe Kidd It’s easy to be romantic about a genre when all you’ve seen of it is the best examples. Is it strictly necessary to dig into the cast-off excrement of the medium? Once in a blue moon, maybe. Even a turd can contain something…
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by Oscar O’Sullivan Monday – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid As the 1960s drew to a close and the writing was seemingly on the wall for the Hollywood Western, there was a sense that any Western released was a farewell tour. While some directors chose to put the genre to bed with deconstructions that…
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by Oscar O’Sullivan Monday – Furiosa and Hud I already reviewed Furiosa – go read that! I also watched another movie on Monday, Hud. Starring Paul Newman as the title character, this is another masterful ‘post-western’ of the 1960s, an examination of how the world just isn’t any place for that old cowboy romanticism anymore.…
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by Oscar O’Sullivan Rarely does a prequel feel so consistent with the work it’s attached too. Aside from it’s sometimes jarring visual style and the obvious difference in actor for the titular character, this feels like a natural extension of 2015’s Fury Road. The production design is identical, supporting characters from the original film appear…
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By Oscar O’Sullivan Monday – The Magnificent Seven This remake of the Japanese classic Seven Samurai is a strong case study in the fundamental similarity of the Western and Samurai genres, as well as their key differences. Both films follow a mismatched group of seven warriors who come together to protect a poor village from…
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by Oscar O’Sullivan Monday – Toni Erdmann There’s a wonderful specificity in the humour of this film. Despite covering an absurd breadth of settings and scenarios in it’s near-three hour runtime, it’s all firmly centred on the clashing personalities of the two leads. Ines is obsessed with control, raging against a lack of it in…
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by Oscar O’Sullivan Monday – On The Waterfront On The Waterfront is a feature-length parable about standing up for yourself in the face of social pressure. Protagonist Terry Malloy has spent his whole life following the orders of his older brother and, by extension, his brother’s corrupt union boss. Terry has done this because it’s…
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