2018 is turning out to be a truly inclusive year for on-screen representation. “Black Panther” invited African-American audiences to see themselves in a massive superhero movie that wasn’t about their own oppression, “A Fantastic Woman” gave transgender women the chance to see themselves in an acclaimed film that wasn’t terribly retrograde, and now Eli Roth’s dangerously enjoyable “Death Wish” gives right-wing lunatics the opportunity to see themselves in a fascist fairy tale that wasn’t directed by Dinesh D’Souza. To each their own cinema.

Set in an alternate-reality Chicago where the police are so overwhelmed by inner-city crime that they can’t spare the resources required to solve the murder of an affluent white woman, this contemporary riff on Charles Bronson’s vigilante…

Bruce Willis awakens from his acting coma and actually acts as Dr Paul Kersey in Eli Roth’s remake of the Michael Winner / Charles Bronson revenge classic.

Chicago has a high as a kite murder rate, and that’s not fake news. Chicago is the perfect setting for the retelling of Death Wish.

Death Wish is the most un-Eli Roth film I’ve seen. You couldn’t tell he directed, and in my opinion, that’s a cool thing. Some might throw the term “torture porn” for some of the kill scenes. But, I would argue, calling Death Wish torture porn, is like calling American Hustle a T & A flick because it shows Amy Adams’ side boob. The home invasion scene could’ve been a…

"that sounds like a good scream" "that sounded like a very good scream"

all of roth's movies make explicit the stuff thats unspoken in normal movies, like de palma* crankin up (& to) the shit implied by old hollywood (pre-frenzy) hitchcock, except brian depalma never used splitscreen to put up worldstar memes of his main character cold-blooded murdering a car thief ("when somebody spoils game of thrones"). its disgusting to imagine the world's worst assholes swallowing this as a news report from trump's chiraq (stand-in for oprah & obama & everything black they hate) but all of roth's politics & signifiers fly scattershot to avoid revealing his real target - studio notes aside, death wish is a mess because hes not indulging, hes…

5/10
“Dr. Paul Kersey is a surgeon who often sees the consequences of the city's violence in the emergency room. When home intruders brutally attack his wife and young daughter, Kersey becomes obsessed with delivering vigilante justice to the perpetrators. As the anonymous slayings grab the media's attention, the public begins to wonder if the deadly avenger is a guardian angel -- or the Grim Reaper itself.”


I’m a bit let down by this. I watched it around the time it came out and I gave it a 6/10. This time I did have to lower it just a bit because I realized how much of it either Bruce Willis getting either lucky or unlucky and how much of it…

Paul Kersey is a middle aged surgeon of some repute, happily married with a teenage daughter. His patience is pushed beyond limits after a series of crimes in Chicago ultimately result in the death of his wife and hospitalisation of his child. Frustrated by the lack of progress made by the police, he takes the law into his own hands and becomes a violent street vigilante.

I’m not sure if anyone was begging for a remake of the notorious Bronson original but hey, here it is anyway, this time starring Bruce Willis in the lead role. It pretty much tells the same story, one that’s arguably morally repugnant in the current climate (Kersey is ultimately shown as a heroic figure,…