Monthly Archives: December 2020

I remember looking forward to “Tracks,” a cross-Australia “walkabout” epic, when I saw the trailers back in 2013. But the ever-troubled Weinstein Co. never gave it much of a U.S. release. But the story of Robyn Davidson’s cross-Outback trek, accompanied … Continue reading →

Anyone reveling in his patriarchal venality on HBO’s “Succession” should treat yourself to Brian Cox’s “Thespian in Winter…and Depends” turn in “The Carer,” a tirade of bellowing, blustering delights from the Shakespearean who has played many a villain when Hollywood … Continue reading →

Horror fans know the trope well, that moment when everybody in the story of some supernatural threat or another gets on the same page. One character is seeing things, hearing things, perceiving a threat. And others, or in a simpler … Continue reading →

The 2008 film “Departures” is a somber drama set against “the Japanese way of death,” the fastidious customs, traditions and taboos dealing with a corpse that society there still clings to. I couldn’t help but think of that film watching … Continue reading →

Netflix and Austin auteur Robert Rodriguez seem like a streamer/filmmaker match that’s meant to be. The “Sin City,” “Spy Kids” “Sharkboy/LavaGirl” director-producer, famed for knowing how to do things that look expensive cheaper than Hollywood can imagine should have been … Continue reading →

A surreal fever-dream shot in shades of David Lynch, “Some Southern Waters” makes for a polished and cryptic if not wholly coherent debut feature from writer-director Julian Baner. It’s a micro-budget indie with acting and cinematography that punch above their … Continue reading →

“Two Ways Home” is a low-key indie drama about family history, personal failures, mental health and redemption. Beautifully shot, empathetically-acted and reasonably well-written, it benefits from that essential ingredient that makes or breaks many a low-budget independent film — a … Continue reading →

“Your Name Engraved Herein” is a coming out romance set in late 1980s Taiwan, where two boarding school classmates take tentative steps to explain their sexuality in a country that was just emerging from decades of martial law, and where … Continue reading →

So it’s Farmer Paul this time around, a guise he adopted way back after the Fab breakup? Stripped down, spare and basic and not quite folksy, and going the animated route for his “official” music for this times. Lovely, water-colorish … Continue reading →