I’m pretty surprised that Avan Jogia had it in him to direct one of the better indie films I’ve seen all year. Shockingly, “Door Mouse” is not based on any particular comic book or graphic novel, but its influences are taken from obvious places like Frank Miller, Sam Spade, Scott Pilgrim, Tank Girl and the like. Jogia is mostly known for being a former Nickelodeon actor in America who then transitioned well in to adult films, but he’s also proven with “Door Mouse” to be a pretty awesome director when all is said and done. “Door Mouse” is a pulpy, neo-noirish, crime thriller with some great references to comic books and a very clever use of animation as a means of helping to add to the overall pulp fiction aesthetic that Jogia seems to be aiming for.
Tag Archives: Crime
Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani – 3 Disc Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]
From Radiance Films, fans of the Italian crime cinema sub-genre will adore what this three disc box set has for fans, as “Cosa Nostra” features three key films from director Damiano Damiani and film icon Franco Nero. Included is “The Day of the Owl” with Franco Nero as a police chief who, while investigating the death of a construction worker, goes up against corrupt officials and a ruthless mafia boss (Lee J. Cobb). “The Day of the Owl” is adapted from the novel by Leonardo Sciascia; The Day of the Owl was the first book to openly deal with organized crime in Sicily.
Bad Girl Boogey (2023)
I give filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay a lot of credit for pressing forward with a slasher movie that’s based a lot around the LGBTQ community and a slasher that’s centered on murdering citizens of that community. There aren’t many horror movies that focus on the whole LGBTQ experience and on a slasher that’s centered on them and only them. While I do credit director and writer Alice Maio Mackay for trying to offer something different, “Bad Girl Boogey” excels in the directorial department but sorely needed work in the script department. The script is an aspect of “Bad Girl Boogey” that could have stood at least a few more rewrites and re-thinking.
The Flash (2023)
Like it or lump it, after delays, and delays, and restarts, and bad press, and alterations, and production problems “The Flash” is finally here. And–I lumped it. It’s not to say that “The Flash” is the worst movie from the DCEU yet, but it’s definitely not one of the best. It’s a shame as the trailers inspired so much optimism and enthusiasm, but at the end of the day, it’s a terribly mixed bag with occasional redeeming qualities. Beyond the fan service, and Easter eggs scattered throughout, “The Flash” is right at the level of “Shazam: Fury of the Gods”; whether or not that’s a positive perspective is up to you.
Dogs Are Man’s Only Best Friend in the “John Wick” Universe
“You Hit My Puppy.” – Mr. Nobody
When we first meet John Wick, he’s already hanging on a thread. He’d all but expended his humanity on his past life. He’d spent his entire life as a ruthless hit man known as the dehumanizing name of “El Baba Yaga.” All sense of what makes him a person had been lost thanks to the mythologizing of his time as a career hit man. When he meets his wife Helen, he sadly loses her to terminal cancer, which ultimately causes him to reflect on not only giving up but relinquishing whatever trace of heart and soul that he had left. When Helen leaves him a young Beagle named Daisy, much to his surprise and chagrin, she’s not only giving him a purpose but a part of his humanity. If she can’t be there to take care of him and love John, at least he can have Daisy to care for and become friends with.
BAD MOVIE MONDAY: Verotika (2019)
I’ve written at length about what makes a good bad movie, but what makes a BAD bad movie? This is what I’d like to talk about in today’s review because I think I found the perfect example. Here is a movie that is so bad, so incompetent, so mind-numbingly lazy, that I can’t just overlook its flaws and give it the benefit of the doubt like I normally would. This is a movie that is insultingly and aggressively terrible. Yes folks, I’m talking about VEROTIKA.
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Querelle (1982) [LA&M Film Fetish Forum]
Director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s adaptation of “Querelle” is a divisive movie and has been for a long time. It’s a movie that originally split some critics and journalists, as it’s a movie that’s been explained as a film you’d have to be almost exclusively gay to watch. That’s not a criticism or chastising, but the popular opinion I’ve read seems to indicate that it’s mostly clicked with gay audiences. “Querelle” is very much tailored to gay audiences, as it’s a movie about self discovery and main character Querelle searching for a sense of identity.