Last of the Wolves [2021] ‘NYAFF’ Review: Peace Comes At A Price In This Violent, Compelling Yakuza Sequel
Making the bold decision to end The Blood of Wolves with the death of Shogo Ogami (Koji Yakusho), who emerged as the emotional crux of the film, Shiraishi continues a tale of corruption and personal sacrifice via his equally gore-encrusted sequel, Last of the Wolves.
Otar’s Death [2021] ‘KVIFF’ Review – A Well-Crafted Tale of Frustrated Mothers and Sons
Georgian filmmaker Ioseb ‘Soso’ Bliadze’s feature-film debut, Otar’s Death (2021) is an irony-rich social and psychological drama. It’s a tale…
Mondo Hollywoodland [2021] Review – Freewheeling homage to the 60s fails to make sense of its potent satire
Not many people would know about the Mondo films from the 60s, but a lot of them would still remember…
A Study of Fragmentation in the Aftermath of World War II in Christian Petzold’s Phoenix (2014)
Phoenix (2014) opens at night, and we follow a car carrying two Jewish women past a military checkpoint into Berlin,…
Joint [2021] NYAFF Review: A Generic Albeit Fresh Spin on the Yakuza narrative
Joint [2021] Review: The concept of a yakuza in Japan has existed since the 17th century. A Yakuza, for the…
Soul of a Beast [2021]: ‘Locarno’ Review – A Visual Fantasy with Entertainingly Deranged Moments
On the surface, Soul of a Beast (2021) is one of the most conventional narratives to have resurfaced in the…
Roots [2021]: ‘KVIFF’ Review – A Distinctively Minimalist Portrait of Landscape and its People
Sometimes the largest of human stories can be contained in the smallest (of space, of moments, etc). It’s what Tea…
The Sadness [2021]: ‘Locarno’ Review – An Interesting Gore Fest that Never Takes Off
It would be too straightforward to brand ‘The Sadness’ as a zombie film. Despite the lack of official word, the…