Marko Zaror and Ernesto Diaz Espinoza are back with another Chilean riff on Hollywood action films. In Mirageman, they tackled the super hero origin story with deft humor and hand-held, gonzo filmmaking. With Mandrill, they are knocking off the super-spy/millionaire hitman genre and once again they do it in style. Though Mandrill feels bigger and … Continue reading
Continuity is a bitch. It’s the reason that almost every Marvel comic devotes space to explaining where the characters are in the story. It’s the reason that DC keeps having crisis after crisis to make their stories more approachable for new readers. It’s the reason Marvel launched a whole new line of Ultimate comics for … Continue reading
It’s sad that we live in a world where companies will throw millions of dollars are garbage like Captivity instead of recognizing good, fun films like Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. I get it, the horror comedy is a tough sell and Tucker & Dale maybe moreso because it doesn’t have any bankable stars and … Continue reading
Why doesn’t Indonesia produce more martial arts films? I’m sure that someone with more knowledge of Indonesia’s film industry and cultural history than I have can answer that question, but as a simple fan of Merantau, I cannot. I’ve seen most of the well-regarded recent Thai martial arts films, and my share (although by no … Continue reading
Nicolas Winding Refn’s newest film is a brutal and breathtaking meditation on violence, religion, and the human will. Though the film only contains a few brief moments of graphic horror, Refn is able to make the remaining 95% of his film gripping, tense, and full of dread with the power of beautifully-composed images and a … Continue reading