Here is Elizabeth Moss again in another film which can be characterized as being about the kind of shit women have to put up with. In keeping with the source material by H.G. Wells. all good treatments of the story have focused on the inherently horrifying aspect of the premise. What this adaptation brings is that it is from the perspective of the victim and is perhaps the most extreme form of gaslighting anyone has ever imagined. Unfortunately the plot tries to be just a little too clever and the film could probably benefit from being shorter.

This is an eccentric tragicomic film from Iceland that delivers exactly what its title says and what it shows on the poster. This delightful gem of a film is very short and has very minimal dialogue but is nevertheless packed full of surprises and shocks. I suspect that its depiction of rural life in Iceland is more mythological than real and its insouciance towards grievous injury and death highly affected. However, authentic or not, it is wonderfully entertaining and original.

So we’re just now done with the four seasons of this show that has been out so far and this has been amazing every step of the way. It has also grown to become a particular favorite of my wife, combining as it does the lavish spectacle of the British monarchy, the sweeping sense of watching history in the making, the soap opera nature of its characters interacting with one another and you even feel less guilty about liking it too as it successfully convinces you that it is educational. Most of all, it’s fun to talk about each episode after you’ve watched it especially when you happen to recall a bit of your memories of the real events it is based on.

As the title states, here is yet another zombie film even as we are working through the South Korean series Kingdom. Happily this one hearkens back to the original meaning of the word before it was commercialized by American films. Though framed as a fictional story set both in Haiti in the past and present day France, I feel that it is works better like a documentary that is meant to introduce to us voodoo and that entire aspect of Haitian culture.

This film as well as the book it is based on are both frequent subjects of study with the book in particular being banned in many places. Incredibly while countries in the Soviet block were upset at its depiction of anti-Semitism in Poland, Western countries were upset as well, seeing in it an attempt to absolve Catholics of some of the guilt of the Holocaust. In any case, while I was somewhat puzzled at first about how this film is actually composed of two entirely separate stories, I eventually came to appreciate how each part complements the other and it certainly lives up to its reputation as one of the world’s great film.

We’ve watched almost every Wes Anderson film by now, but not this one. This was his second film and the one that received enough critical attention to establish his career. It was also his first collaboration with Bill Murray and of course we know how that went. Anderson was only 29 years old when he made this so it is remarkable that the essentials of his signature style are all already present here. His newer films can boast of bigger budgets and more polish, but I find that I really enjoyed the restraint and lower stakes in this one.

This is purportedly a science-fiction film in English by a French production team led by director Claire Denis. I say purportedly because Denis has no background in science-fiction and it seems clear that she’s not about to start here. The setting is a mere backdrop for the same kind of sexually-charged psychological horror that the director habitually indulges in. I’m irked by how little respect is accorded to the practical and technical details of the space mission and also very disturbed by the implied reasons for why the main character survives.