Acceptance or Redemption in These Final Hours

These Final Hours. 2014. Directed & Written by Zak Hilditch. Starring Nathan Phillips, Jessica De Gouw, Daniel Henshall, Kathryn Beck, Angourie Rice, and David Field. 8th In Line/XYZ Films. Rated 18A. 87 minutes. Drama/Thriller ★★★★ Always a fan of Australian films, whether bigger budget or the opposite, it surprisingly took me a while to come …

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The Hypnotic Criminal Lure of Hyena

Hyena. 2014. Directed & Written by Gerard Johnson. Starring Peter Ferdinando, Stephen Graham, Neil Maskell, Elisa Lasowski, MyAnna Buring, Richard Dormer, Gordon Brown, Tony Pitts, Orli Shuka, Gjevat Kelmendi, Thomas Craig, Lorenzo Camporese, Shaban Arifi, Alfred Doda, and Mem Ferda. Film4/Number 9 Films. Unrated. 112 minutes. Crime/Drama ★★★★★ With the endorsement of Nicolas Winding Refn …

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Beauty in the Breakdown: Alex Ross Perry’s Perfectly Uncomfortable Queen of Earth

Queen of Earth. 2015. Directed & Written by Alex Ross Perry. Starring Elisabeth Moss, Katherine Waterston, Patrick Fugit, Kentucker Audley, Keith Poulson, and Kate Lyn Sheil. Washington Square Films. Unrated. 90 minutes. Drama/Thriller ★★★★★ Opening with such a tightly framed shot of Elisabeth Moss' Catherine, Alex Ross Perry completely submerges us immediately into her world. …

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Gerard Johnson’s Tony: Portrait of a British Killer

Gerard Johnson examines a Dennis Nilsen-ish monster who is, sadly, all too human.

Chronicle: Teenage Found Footage Superheroes

Chronicle. 2012. Directed by Josh Trank. Screenplay by Max Landis. Starring Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Ashley Hinshaw, Bo Petersen, and Anna Wood. Twentieth Century Fox. Rated 14A. 84 minutes. Drama/Sci-Fi/Thriller ★★★★1/2 I'm always a defender of found footage. There are plenty of instances of bad found footage films, but who …

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Insidious: Chapter 3 is a Welcomed Creepy Surprise

Insidious: Chapter 3. 2014. Directed & Written by Leigh Whannell. Starring Lin Shaye, Stefanie Scott, Dermot Mulroney, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Tate Berney, Michael Reid MacKay, Steve Coulter, Hayley Kiyoko, Corbett Tuck, and Tom Fitzpatrick. Blumhouse Productions. Rated 14A. 97 minutes. Drama/Horror/Thriller ★★★1/2 I'm a fan of the two previous Insidious films. Reason being, I think …

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Goodnight Mommy & the Existential Dread of Identity

Ich seh, Ich seh (English title: Goodnight Mommy). 2015. Written & Directed by Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz. Starring Susanne Wuest, Elias Schwarz, and Lukas Schwarz. Ulrich Seidl Film Produktion GmbH. Rated R. 99 minutes. Drama/Fantasy/Horror ★★★★★ This is a film I've anticipated ever since first hearing the premise. Almost had sort of a fairytale-like feel to …

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The Bleeding Religion of Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs

Martyrs. 2008. Directed & Written by Pascal Laugier. Starring Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, Robert Toupin, Patricia Tulasne, Juliette Gosselin, Xavier Dolan, Louise Boisvert, and Jean-Marie Moncelet. Canal+. Rated R. 99 minutes. Drama/Horror ★★★★★ Martyrs is most definitely a bloody, gory, savage film from beginning to end. Of course those bits alternate, as well as the …

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