Few 90s films are as lurid, extravagant, maximalist and restless as The Long Kiss Goodnight, a transition point between the classical action film and a more cybergothic mode of action that would reach full flower in The Matrix. Renny Harlin was a master at queasily combining different tones and genres under the umbrella of action, continually expanding his films until they seemed to contain every conceivable Hollywood experience. The Long Kiss Goodnight is arguably his masterpiece, extending action so far…
Favorite films
Recent activity
AllRecent reviews
More-
-
Chocolat 2000
Chocolat, Lance Hallström’s adaptation of Joanne Harris’ bestselling novel, is perhaps the ultimate French film for English audiences – peak Miramax, peak indie-mainstream and peak Palace Cinemas, for those who saw it in Australia at the time. In other words, it’s a classic comfort watch, marking a particular moment in the evolution of chocolate fandom, and the public expectation of what fine chocolate should and could be. We start in the fictional French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, in the 1950s, although…
Popular reviews
More-
The Wolf of Wall Street 2013
The Wolf of Wall Street is based on the bestselling memoir by Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), which describes how he became one of the richest people in America through sustained security fraud. One of Belfort’s most prominent strategies was to sell worthless stocks to inexperienced customers – in effect, to sell nothing to nobodies – meaning that it was a career that subsisted less on providing goods than in raising the process of circulation itself to a fever pitch. As…
-
Nightcrawler 2014
A kind of spiritual sequel to End of Watch, Dan Gilroy’s debut feature stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Louis Bloom, a petty criminal who turns his hand to freelance accident and crime scene photography to satisfy his yearnings to become a member of the professional class. Despite being set in Los Angeles, it’s clearly modelled on Michael Mann’s Thief – there’s the same procedural coldness, the same aversion to natural light, the same gravitation towards lurid, tungsten hues and, above all,…
