By - Gareth Jones Fans of The Nightingale, Here Evil Lurks, and Speak No Evil, historical folk horror, unnerving Austrian Horror NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EVERYONE Fair warning, as stated above, this film is not made for all audiences.  It depicts violence towards children and that is extremely challenging.  Even if you are not a parent, these are difficult films to process. However, art is not meant to always be beautiful […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of the Blue Tongue Collective, Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris, intense true-crime films Written and directed by Thomas Wright, The Stranger is an astonishing film.  I must admit that I was attracted to the film by the two lead actors, Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris, both of whom’s careers I have followed closely.  Here, the direction and writing gives these two incredible actors a […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of independent Irish films, low budget but inventive horror, and Gothic chamber piece films Caveat is the first film for Irish writer/director/editor Damian Mc Carthy. It is a remarkable debut.  It shows all the signs of creativity and ingenuity of an artist with a distinct vision.  It was released in October of 2020, and although it was filmed before the pandemic, it feels like […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of Elaine May and Mike Nichols, political humor and satire, Kathy Bates I recently finished the fantastic biography, Elaine May Does Not Exist, and have been rewatching her films including those that she wrote the screenplay for.  Elaine May is one of the greatest minds of the last century.  Her collaborations with Mike Nichols at the start of their careers helped shape and form […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of Alice Rohrwacher, Italian Neorealism, Fellini, and Josh O’Conner I was fortunate to see La chimera in the cinema at Sidewalk Cinema as part of a collaboration with Hypercritic Kate Burney, who gave an excellent intro to Italian cinema and specifically located Alice Rohrwacher in that wonderful cinematic tradition.  I highly recommend attending an event like this.  It was a great crowd with a […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of independent dramas, the power of art to heal, Shakespeare adaptations According to Wikipedia there are over 160 direct or inspired by adaptations of Romeo and Juliet in the history of film and television.  I would venture to guess that there are none quite like the most recent Ghostlight.  It really is about a tale of grief and the healing power of art, but […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of Hirokazu Kore-eda, thoughtful murder mysteries, ethical debates artfully presented I still remember barely moving, just sitting in my seat after viewing Afterlife in 1998. It was mine, and the world’s first major introduction to the future auteur director Hirokazu Kore-eda and his deeply moving and beautiful cinema.  In the next two decades, he has established himself as one of if not the greatest […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of meta-horror/self-reflexive cinema, 80’s slasher/giallo homage, Ti West, Mia Goth Ti West has now been making horror films for over 15 years.  Most, if not all, of his films are homages to classics of the genre or at least the aesthetic to specific decades, in particular the 70s and 80s.  You can definitely tell he has a love for the genre but is also […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of weird cat movies, bizarre Hong Kong cat movies, unusual science fiction cat movies. (Do you detect a theme?) For the majority of my life, I have been a dog person. This is mostly due to the fact that my mother and I had cat allergies.  That changed when I got married and my dear wife had two cats. It permanently changed one fateful […]