Shot from the movie

, 2012

In modern day Europe, demonic possession seems to be a thing of the past, something most likely to be attributed to mental illness, and something that can be dealt with through modern medicine, not exorcism. Still, exorcisms are conducted in certain areas in the continent, and some instances don’t go the way they should. Inspired on the real life Tanacu exorcism, Beyond the Hills doesn’t depict the event through a horror or melodramatic lens– instead the film is stoic, naturalistic, with long single takes that linger uncomfortably and repetitively. As Alina pleads to Voichița to help her, to choose her and their bond, Voichița grapples with wanting the modern yet isolating freedom she knows Alina has found elsewhere, while still wanting the refuge religious tradition has granted her, but also has made her dependent on. It does take a while to reach its conclusion, but Beyond the Hills is a deeply unsettling and striking movie to watch.
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Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Adrian Acuta, Alina Berzunteanu, Călin Chirilă, Cătălina Harabagiu, Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur, Cristina Mihailescu, Dana Tapalagă, Dionisie Vitcu, Doru Ana, Gheorghe Ifrim, Gina Tandura, Ion Sapdaru, Katia Pascariu, Liliana Mocanu, Luminita Gheorghiu, Nora Covali, Tania Popa, Teodor Corban, Valeriu Andriuță

Director: Cristian Mungiu

Shot from the movie

, 2017

While best known for 1977 cult horror classic House, Nobuhiko Obayashi first dreamed of adapting Hanagatami, a 1937 novella by Kazuo Dan, and it was only until the later end of his life that he got to fulfill that dream. It’s possibly the reason why Hanagatami feels like a surreal set of memories, with Karatsu’s seaside portrayed with theatrical sets and back projection, with scenes flipped and unflipped ever so often, with Bach looped and mixed with dissonant chords and children singing. And as the teenagers of Karatsu try to cling to their innocence despite the looming possibility of death, Obayashi remembers the lives cut short, not in nostalgia, but in an anxious bid for us to remember humanity’s biggest failure.
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Genre: Drama, Romance, War

Actor: Hirona Yamazaki, Honoka Yahagi, Kayoko Shiraishi, Keishi Nagatsuka, Kiyotaka Nanbara, Masahiro Takashima, Mugi Kadowaki, Shinnosuke Ikehata, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Shunsuke Kubozuka, Takahito Hosoyamada, Takako Tokiwa, Takao Ito, Takehiro Murata, Tetsuya Takeda, Tokio Emoto, Tōru Shinagawa, Toshie Negishi, Tsurutaro Kataoka, Wakaba Irie, Yuriko Ono

Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi

Shot from the movie

, 2005

The Western had its heyday in the 60s, but the decades have proven that there’s still stories from the deserts that we haven’t heard yet, and gems that twist the genre on its head. The Proposition is a unique Western, being from the East, in Australia where the Brits have started to form colonies. As the British Empire builds society, and the police start to enforce the King’s justice, writer Nick Cave and director John Hillcoat crafts a bloody tale, where promises between men are betrayed for the State, where vengeance can only be met through brutality, and where the line between civility and savagery is drawn and moved by the will of an angry majority. The Proposition is quite violent, but it’s performed well, scored by a moody, moving soundtrack, and it surprisingly contemplates Australia’s bloody past.
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Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller, Western

Actor: Bogdan Koca, Boris Brkic, Bryan Probets, Danny Huston, David Gulpilil, David Vallon, David Wenham, Emily Watson, Gary Waddell, Guy Pearce, Iain Gardiner, Jeremy Madrona, John Hurt, Leah Purcell, Mick Roughan, Noah Taylor, Oliver Ackland, Ralph Cotterill, Ray Winstone, Richard Wilson, Robert Morgan, Tom Budge, Tom E. Lewis

Director: John Hillcoat

Rating: R

Shot from the movie

, 2007

Some bigots like to equate genitals to one’s gender and sexual orientation, but in practice, it’s not always a straightforward equation, especially for the rare, but natural, occasion when people are born with both male and female sex organs. XXY isn’t the first film to discuss the intersex experience, but it’s one of the first features that managed to be critically acclaimed. Unlike some of its predecessors, XXY is much more grounded, taking place in the modern era, and is mostly centered on Alex’s gender and sexual exploration. The film isn’t a perfect depiction– at the time, intersex wasn’t even the most common term, and sex-reassignment surgery was often the default action– but there is a lot in the film that dared to question certain ideas, such as having to choose only between a binary. Not many intersex films were created after this, in part due to how rare intersex is, and how broad the term encompasses multiple conditions, but XXY stands out all the more because of it.
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Genre: Drama

Actor: Ailín Salas, Carolina Peleritti, Carolina Pelleritti, César Troncoso, Germán Palacios, Guillermo Angelelli, Inés Efron, Lucía Puenzo, Lucas Escariz, Lucía Puenzo, Luciano Nóbile, Martín Piroyansky, Ricardo Darín, Valeria Bertuccelli

Director: Lucía Puenzo

Rating: Not Rated

Shot from the movie

, 2015

Heart Attack is a romantic comedy, but instead of the hijinks being caused by the usual dating, miscommunication, and wooing, Yoon’s struggle here is to finally get a hold of his overbearing schedule and figure out how to relax and recover from burnout, and it’s all inspired by wanting to impress his doctor Imm. It’s funny, but it’s also all too real. Writer-director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit recreates the overwhelming frenzy to complete a job through a magnificent jazz soundscape and Sunny Suwanmethanon’s internalized monologue, and it’s such an effective cinematic translation that the moments of rest, the moments where Yoon and Imm finally take a break feels like a relief. Heart Attack works precisely because it empathizes and understands the experience of workers in today’s gig economy.
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Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Adisorn Trisirikasem, Banjong Pisanthanakun, Chatcharin Saetan, Chonlasit Upanigkit, Davika Hoorne, Morakot Liu, Natda Chawawanid, Nottapon Boonprakob, Panjavit Tangtongjit, Sunny Suwanmethanon, Sunny Suwanmethanont, Surattanavee Suviporn, Surattanawee Suviporn, Thanapob Leeratanakachorn, Torpong Chantabubpha, Vichai Matakul, Violette Wautier

Director: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit

Rating: N/A

Shot from the movie

, 2016

This documentary prides itself on its rawness from its home video style. It uses a lot of uninterrupted clips that don’t really need to be there, as well as odd choices for symbolic b-roll and mood-setting music in the early going. But at the center of the documentary is John du Pont, an unstable old money mark who wishes to be one of the boys, treating the wrestlers like his family in the absence of his own. The interviews paint a clear picture of him as a delusional, lonely, and dangerous man, and the foreshadowing is insane albeit too slow. While it may be visually all over the place, perhaps the biggest nitpick about it is that, out of respect, it could have allotted more time to Dave Schultz or the aftermath.

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Genre: Crime, Documentary

Actor: Dan Chaid, Dave Schultz, John E. du Pont, Mark Schultz, Nancy Schultz

Director: Jon Greenhalgh

Rating: TV-14

Shot from the movie

, 1996

Many people have forgotten that representation and diversity in media isn’t meant just to fill a quota or to signal virtue– the push for it is in response to the way many of these stories were silenced, repressed, and shut out. Lilies might have been overlooked for quite a while, but its 2023 restoration has thankfully enabled more viewers to watch the tale of an imprisoned gay man finally telling his story, turning the tables on a long overdue confession. Michel Marc Bouchard adapts his play through this play-within-a-film, with director John Greyson playing with the confession booth as a viewing booth for both the bishop and the audience to get fully immersed in a love triangle a century ago, juxtaposed with motifs of martyred Catholic saints and French lilies and fire. Lilies is a well-crafted and deeply emotional masterpiece.
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Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Actor: Alain Gendreau, Aubert Pallascio, Brent Carver, Danny Gilmore, Gary Farmer, Ian D. Clark, Jason Cadieux, John Dunn-Hill, Khanh Hua, Marcel Sabourin, Matthew Ferguson, Michel Marc Bouchard, Pierre Leblanc, Rémy Girard, Robert Lalonde

Director: John Greyson

Shot from the movie

, 2024

This is a nostalgic, ethereal memory like a childhood yearning, which can be credited to the soundtrack and friendly characters. Its got a lovely message about unspoken or repressed feelings, but the journey there unravels quickly. The second act enters filler side quest territory and loses the energetic pace and tight direction of the exposition. In the end, the premise and pretty visuals feel almost wasted on an ill-paced bloated story, one that tries to capture a wistfulness or magic but ends up feeling forced and manufactured. This is one of those movies you wish was the first movie you ever watched as a child. You won’t have a clue what it was about, but you'll remember it was nice.

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Genre: Adventure, Animation, Family, Fantasy

Actor: Aya Yamane, Hisako Kyoda, Kensho Ono, Mio Tanaka, Mitsuho Kambe, Miyu Tomita, Noriko Hidaka, Satoshi Mikami, Satsuki Yukino, Shintaro Asanuma, Shirou Saitou, Shouzou Sasaki, Tomoko Shiota

Director: Tomotaka Shibayama

Rating: PG-13

Shot from the movie

, 2012

Stories of forbidden love are captivating, because in the face of a lover, in the face of one’s opposite, one cannot help but be challenged, hopefully for the better. This is not what happened here. Out in the Dark is a film debut that takes this idea in the Middle East, with two gay lovers coming from Palestine and Israel. It’s an intriguing idea, and had it been more nuanced, Israeli director Michael Mayer would have created a daring first feature, but the film clearly comes from a limited Israeli perspective, with no Palestinians casted or working behind the scenes. While the film may be sympathetic to hypothetical LGBTQ+ people in Palestine, Out in the Dark doesn’t have the guts to question why they’ve been persecuted in the first place.
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Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller

Actor: Alon Pdut, Chelli Goldenberg, Huda Al Imam, Jameel Khoury, Khawlah Hag-Debsy, Loai Nofi, Michael Aloni, Moris Cohen, Nicholas Jacob, Shimon Mimran

Director: Michael Mayer

Rating: NR

Shot from the movie

, 2024

The Great Lillian Hall doesn’t do anything particularly great to a familiar premise, but it’s still worth watching for the knockout performances. There’s Lange, whose dementia both complicates her desire to mount one last performance and resurfaces her guilt for being an absent mother. There’s Bates, who offers both sympathy and tough love. And then there’s Rabe, who’s gut-punching as the pained daughter crawling her way into her mother’s stiff arms. Everything else about the film is not as noteworthy as it drags the film for way longer than it should be. But that trifecta of performances makes it all worthwhile.
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Genre: Drama

Actor: Allison Mackie, Blaque Fowler, Bryan McClure, Cindy Hogan, Clayton Landey, David Chin, David Marshall Silverman, David Vaughn, Derrick LeMont, Erik Parillo, Jesse Williams, Jessica Lange, Jonathan Horne, Kathy Bates, Keith Arthur Bolden, Kenneth Trujillo, Lauren Buglioli, Lily Rabe, Meg Gillentine, Michael Rose, Noshir Dalal, Pierce Brosnan, Rebecca Watson, Robert Stevens Wayne, Tenz McCall, Zele Avradopoulos

Director: Michael Cristofer

Rating: PG-13

Shot from the movie

, 2006

So far, chemical waste hasn't mutated amphibious creatures enough to create giant monsters large enough to swallow people whole… yet. This sort of monster film premise is familiar, especially for fans of 1950s sci-fi movies, but in the hands of director Bong Joon-ho, The Host transforms what could have been B-movie schlock into a drama examining the ways generations within a family, as well as generations within a country and within the world, have failed each other. As the Park family try to save their own, the actions they take feel all the more important, knowing what’s at stake on multiple levels. While at the time, there were doubts that Bong Joon-ho and the Korean film industry could pull off the monster, The Host proved that there was more to come from the then emerging film giant.
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Genre: Drama, Horror, Science Fiction

Actor: Ah-sung Ko, Bae Doona, Baek Do-bin, Bong Joon-ho, Byun Hee-bong, Byun Heebong, Choi Dae-sung, Choi Jae-sup, David Anselmo, David Joseph Anselmo, Doona Bae, Go A-sung, Hae-il Park, Hie-bong Byeon, Jeong In-gi, Jeong Kang-hee, Jung Seo-yoon, Kang-ho Song, Kim Bi-bi, Kim Choo-wol, Kim Hak-seon, Kim Jin-seon, Kim Nan-hee, Kim Roi-ha, Ko A-sung, Ko Chang-seok, Koh Soo-hee, Kwon Byung-gil, Kwon Hyeok-Pung, Lee Dong-ho, Lee Dong-yong, Lee Eung-jae, Lee Jae-eung, Lee Jong-yoon, Min Kyung-jin, Oh Dal-su, Park Hae-il, Park Jin-woo, Park No-shik, Paul Lazar, Philip Hersh, Pil-sung Yim, Ra Mi-ran, Scott Wilson, Seo Young-ju, Shin Hyeon-jong, Son Jin-ho, Son Young-soon, Song Kang-ho, Yim Pil-sung, Yoo Seung-mok, Yoo Yeon-soo, Yoon Je Moon

Director: Bong Joon-ho, Joon-ho Bong

Rating: R

Shot from the movie

, 2017

Too Funny to Fail isn’t just a documentary about funny people. It’s a documentary that’s hilarious in its own right. Director Josh Greenbaum assembles the comedic powerhouse behind the short-lived Dana Carvey Show and has them recall the idiosyncratic, subversive skits they did on the show. They are, of course, naturally funny, but it’s the questions Greenbaum asks them off-cam, the clips he shows, and the titles he picks for them (Bill Hader, as a fan who used to watch the show in lieu of going to classes, is stuck with “once skipped school”) that gives the documentary its own comedic signature. The spectacular failure of The Dana Carvey Show is also an inspirational story of sorts, given the astronomical success its staff and cast have and are continuing to enjoy since its cancellation.
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Genre: Comedy, Documentary

Actor: Bill Hader, Dana Carvey, Jon Glaser, Louis C.K., Robert Carlock, Robert Smigel, Spike Feresten, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell

Director: Josh Greenbaum

Rating: NR

Shot from the movie

, 2024

With inconsistent pacing and a deeply unpleasant protagonist, it’s hard to recommend The Seeding to every viewer. It’s really slow-paced, deeply uncomfortable, and it starts with, of all things, a baby eating a finger. But there’s an interesting style to this arthouse horror, a marriage of desert survival thriller and folk horror that restricts all possible modes of escape through its claustrophobic canyon. As Wyndham gradually discovers a secret community driven back to primitive instincts, director Barnaby Clay inverts the idea of what it means to be one’s fundamental self. Most viewers might not appreciate the story, and the ideas aren’t as cohesive as it could be, but horror fans looking for something new in the genre might find The Seeding fairly interesting.
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Genre: Horror, Thriller

Actor: Alex Montaldo, Charlie Avink, Kate Lyn Sheil, Scott Haze, SoKo, Thatcher Jacobs

Director: Barnaby Clay

Rating: R

Shot from the movie

, 2024

Admittedly, being released in theaters a month after Immaculate, The First Omen can almost be accused of being derivative, with similar protagonists, plots, and themes. However, unlike Immaculate, this film captures a bit of the 1970s horror style that was best seen in the original 1976 Omen film, with the paranoia, the investigations, the Eastman Kodak-inspired color grading, and the number of the devil now depicted in striking modern images and clearer digital definition. And, considering that the Roe decision was overturned two years ago, the idea of a forced virgin conception is a great way to reintroduce Gen Z to the horror franchise, as the prequel, and today’s women, now have to deal with religion and authority reducing women only into vessels. The First Omen is a timely adaptation that takes familiar horror tropes and executes them well.
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Genre: Horror

Actor: Alessandra Fallucchi, Andrea Arcangeli, Anton Alexander, Bill Nighy, Charles Dance, Dobrila Stojnic, Dora Romano, Eva Ras, Ishtar Currie Wilson, James Swanton, María Caballero, Mario Opinato, Mia McGovern Zaini, Michelangelo Dalisi, Milena Božić, Miodrag Rakočević, Nell Tiger Free, Nicole Sorace, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Ralph Ineson, Sônia Braga, Sylvia Panacione, Tawfeek Barhom

Director: Arkasha Stevenson

Rating: R

Shot from the movie

, 2024

The tags raunchy and irreverent get thrown around on Netflix like I throw around the word fascinating. But make no mistake about it, this was disgusting right off the bat. There’s not a lot to the jokes, though, other than terrible accents and caricatures and small dick references. It feels like a reenactment of a mid standup comedy bit that went on too long. It's a fun bro movie that tells conservative Pinoy culture to suck it, but it’s a visual and narrative mess, and it has the balls to try and end on a meaningful note when it never attempted any semblance of it throughout.

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Genre: Comedy

Actor: Caira Lee, Donna Cariaga, Enrique Gil, Kenneth Won, Kumron Jivachat, Miguel Almendras, Mihk Vergara, Nikko Natividad, Pepe Herrera, Red Ollero, Sahatchai Chumrum, Sunshine Teodoro, Vern Kaye, Wipawee Charoenpura

Director: Victor Villanueva

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