You have to give it to John Carpenter. Even when he stumbles, he’s still one of the finest directors around who manages to set himself apart from his contemporaries stylistically. While “Star Man” is an obvious attempt to cash in on the good Spielberg “ET” dough, “Star Man” manages to be a pretty okay movie, either way. Carpenter sets aside his usual nihilism in favor of a more measured alien love story where it retains much of its appeal thanks to the wonderful turns by Karen Allen and Jeff Bridges. This is especially a movie where Allen shines, as she delivers a performance filled with layers and emotion to the very end.
Tag Archives: Drama
Blood Runs Down (2017) [Final Girls Berlin Film Festival]
“Flesh and Blood” Shorts Block
Director Zandashé Brown’s Southern Gothic horror short is a beautifully directed narrative that explores the complex and sometimes darker relationships of mothers and daughters and the stresses of raising a child on one’s own. “Blood Runs Down” has some wonderful imagery and genuinely unsettling moments of terror it’s just mired by ambiguity that makes the overall film somewhat confusing.
Supine (2018) [Final Girls Berlin Film Festival]
“Tainted Love” Shorts Block
I could kind of see where “Supine” was headed thanks to the opening shots, but Nicole Goode’s short horror drama still managed to register as a demented peek inside of a complete and utter monster. Eva Larvoire does a bang up job playing Sylvie, a taxidermist living in France, who spends most of her time looking for dead animals on the road.
¿Quieres Que Hoy Te Bese? (Do You Want Me to Kiss You This Time?) (2018) [Final Girls Berlin Film Festival]
“Growing Pains” Shorts Block
Directors Iker Arce and Miriam Ortega Dominguez’s “¿Quieres Que Hoy Te Bese?” is a nearly half hour short film that resonated deeply with me when it was all over. What we assume is a short horror drama about a teenage girl coming in to adulthood in the most sinister fashion, we soon discover is a very brilliantly constructed, disturbing non-linear horror tale.
Caroline (2018) [Final Girls Berlin Film Festival]
“Growing Pains” Shorts Block
I haven’t seen a short yet that’s inspired so much anxiety in me and I mean that as a compliment. Co-writers/Directors Logan George and Celine Held’s “Caroline” is an all too true to life look at the perils of single motherhood and how sometimes stress can inspire sheer irresponsibility. In a world where the welfare of children has become absolute top priority, there’s very little room to slip up, anymore. “Caroline” touches on an issue that’s become ridiculously common in an age where single parenting is basically the norm.
Lucy’s Tale (2018) [Final Girls Berlin Film Festival]
“Growing Pains” Shorts Block
Director Chelsea Lupkin’s “Lucy’s Tale” is a short I hope to see turned in to a movie someday very soon. I think it has so much potential to become a twisted coming of age story about the birth of evil, as well as a story about body insecurity, sexual awakening, and the horrors of modern bullying. “Lucy’s Tale” suffers from a pun of a title, but once you get past it, Lupkin delivers a narrative that I wish was a hundred minutes and went further in to the story of Lucy.
Silhouettes (2018) [Final Girls Berlin Film Festival]
“Growing Pains” Shorts Block
Sadly, while I had high hopes for “Silhouettes,” I didn’t particularly love it. I think director Sarah Brill has a lot of potential as a filmmaker and I loved the tension leading in to the climax. That said, everything else is kind of routine and dull, while the film itself is in dire need of tighter editing.