Blue Rose Film Review

The 1960s was a great decade for horror, paving the way for horror cinema to break into the mainstream during the 1970s and then explode everywhere in the 1980s. In fact, some of my favourite horror films were released in the 1960s, so allow me to take you through ten of my favourite horror films from the 1960s. Hopefully you come across something you haven't seen or heard of! Eyes Without A Face (1960) This French film directed by Georges Franju is renowned for being a sort of proto body horror film with some of its surgery sequences, but it is so much more that just that. Yes, it's surprisingly gory for its time, in all of its black and white glory, but it is also a deeply sad, mournful film about a refusal to properly deal with grief and tragedy. It's deeply affecting not just in its horror elements but also in its depiction of a family torn apart by grief and the outward effect that begins to have on the people around them. Onibaba (1964) This is a Japanese film that fo

Saint Maud (MA15+) Written and directed by Rose Glass Starring Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, Lily Knight and Lily Frazer Duration: 84 minutes Now screening in select cinemas Saint Maud is the feature debut from writer director Rose Glass, featuring Morfydd Clark in the titular role. It played here in Australia back in February of 2020 for the Fantastic Film Festival, and is getting a limited run now that I was very fortunate to see in the theatre. This is an extraordinary film that has been perhaps mistakenly marketed as a horror film, because while it certainly contains elements of horror, it functions much more coherently and strongly as a deeply sad character study about faith and loneliness.  Morfydd Clark plays the titular Maud, a character we are introduced to very early on as having experienced trauma during her time as a nurse, and who we hear praying to God for guidance as she moves on to her next post. Her next post is that of a palliative care nurse for Amanda, played by Je

Zack Snyder's Justice League (MA15+) Directed by Zack Snyder Written by Chris Terrio Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher Duration: 242 minutes Now streaming in Australia on Binge Zack Snyder's Justice League -  or 'The Snyder Cut', as it is more commonly referred to - is probably the most talked about film of the year so far, and for good reason. The history behind this film and the road to the film we finally got to see on HBO Max (or Binge here in Australia) is fascinating; way more interesting than the movie itself, if I'm being completely honest. If you've been living under a rock for the last three or four years, here's the basic rundown.  After Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , two films that to differing degrees are head-bangingly awful, Zack Snyder returned to make Justice League, the third film in his continuing DCEU that was directly being compared with what was going

MINARI (PG) Written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung Starring Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Alan Kim and Noel Cho Duration: 115 minutes Now showing in select cinemas. Minari was exactly the movie that I needed to see yesterday. I had been hearing a lot of buzz about it for a while, and that buzz was only made louder by its six Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Often when I hear as much good hype about a film as I had about Minari I will avoid any and all plot spoilers or descriptions to allow the experience of seeing the film to be as unfiltered as possible, and not only is that exactly what I did with Minari, but it's also what I'm going to do with this review.  I loved this film, and I can't wait to see it again. For whatever reason I was in exactly the right mood for the film - it is funny, gentle, emotional and extremely skillful in its execution. The stakes seem to be at the same time low enough to relax into the film like an armchair, whi

To say that 2018 was a massive year for superhero films would be a huge understatement. With Infinity War alone being released in that year and the cultural impact that had, you could easily say that it was the peak of the superhero thing that cinema is going through at the moment, even without entering Black Panther, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Deadpool 2, Aquaman, and  Ant-Man & the Wasp into the conversation. With Endgame arriving the next year and doing a really solid job of bringing a satisfying sense of closure to the Marvel Infinity Saga, and consequently also feeling like a really important line in the sand for superhero movies in general, there really is a strong argument to be made for 2018 being the height of superhero movies.  The fact that I think that Incredibles 2 is the best superhero film to come out in 2018, then, gives you not only a good idea of how much I like it, but also begins to explain part of why I like it so much, and why I think it deserves more

It's a real tragedy that Moonlight will mostly be remembered by a lot of people simply as the film caught up in the controversy of the 2017 Best Picture award presentation at the Academy Awards. Presenter Warren Beatty announced La La Land as the winner of the award, but only because he had been given an envelope with Emma Stone's Best Actress win printed on it, the real Best Picture winner being Moonlight. The fact that this controversy will overshadow the film itself for so many is such a huge tragedy because of how staggeringly good Moonlight is. Four years on from that controversial awards ceremony, let's take a look at an overlooked element of Moonlight that serves to be a huge part the emotional backbone of the film.  First, a quick recap of the film. Moonlight follows Chiron, a boy growing up in Miami, through three distinct chapters of his life as he comes to terms with his identity and his sexuality.  Part I: Little We see Chiron as a quiet young boy, "Little&

Malcolm & Marie (MA15+) Written and directed by Sam Levinson Starring John David Washington and Zendaya Duration: 106 minutes Available now on Netflix John David Washington is Malcolm, a filmmaker destined for critical and financial success. Zendaya is Marie, Malcolm's girlfriend and constant source of support and encouragement. The two of them return home from the premiere of Malcolm's new film, and we spend the evening with them as they await the critical responses. From the outset we see that there is tension between them, and as the evening goes on we see the cracks in their relationship opened up before us, the two of them testing the strength of their love and picking at things both new and resurfacing in their relationship. I was excited to see this film for a few reasons - for one, it is one of the first films to be conceived, written and produced in America all throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondly, I love small, boxed in films with a small number of character

One of the best days of any cinema-goer's life is the day that they discover the entire world waiting for them in foreign cinema. Whether it is an old film a parent loves, or something you have to see at school that you end up falling in love with, everyone has their first experience of world cinema. World cinema is an endless source of films that can shock, surprise, pacify and challenge you. Here are just ten that I love, in no particular order. OLDBOY (2003) This South Korean revenge thriller from director Park Chan Wook really is as good as it gets. Not only is it twisted and unbelievably violent in places, but its also sharp, funny, intelligent and brutally uncompromising. It is stacked full of clever foreshadowing and clues which don't register when you see it for the first time, but upon rewatching it just opens up like a flower and turns into a whole new movie all over again. One of cinema's all time classic twist endings rightfully takes a lot of the attention in c