Thriller opens with the scene of a house in a forest (reminiscent of Tarkovsky) in which a young man in farm clothes bearing a suffering demeanour tends sheep and a young woman in vampiric goth-garb gathers bracken for a fire. They do not look at one another. The soundtrack hums eerily. The young woman looks up towards an upstairs window of the house. Cut to an interior where a younger girl lies daydreaming on her bed. The man enters the house, turns the handle of her door. Cut to a close-up of her porcelain face wide-eyed in terror. The suspense dissipates as he turns away without opening the door. Cut to the girl as she lies back down on her bed, an enigmatic smile on her face. (Some critics have read her expression as relief, perhaps at some averted abuse, but her expression could also be read as triumph.)
Curb Your Enthusiasm, the improvised Seinfeld, is simply one of the funniest, most brilliant shows on television right now. Following Seinfeld co-creator Larry David and all of his mischievous antics, the series celebrated its 100th episode on Sunday with its Season 10 finale.
Netflix’s new rom-com, Voicemails for Isabelle (dir. Leah McKendrick), isn’t just heartwarming, funny, and an achievement in female directing - it’s also an instant classic. Following 20-something aspiring baker Jill (Zoey Deutch), Voicemails for Isabelle tells a story of grief, self-discovery, and fateful connections. Ever since her beloved sister Izzy’s (Ciara Bravo) death, Jill has been leaving her hilarious, extremely TMI voicemails about her chaotic love life and miserable day job as a prep cook. Little does she know that a handsome and unsatisfied real estate agent in her hometown has inherited the number and practically fallen in love with her by listening to her stories.
'Easy A' is emblematic of a world that liked to sarcastically pretend it was progressive but wasn’t actually ready for that change, making it pretty anti-sex.
'The Last Black Man in San Francisco' is part fiction, part documentary. Jimmie longs for the old Victorian home that he grew up in — the house that his grandfather built. However, this home is now in an overpriced, White, San Francisco neighborhood.
‘Concerto’ is esoteric at best, meant to satisfy the non-melanted’s sense of nostalgia. It is revisionist at worst, cherry-picking images that defy the true tapestry of the human condition.
Anna May Wong was a talented actress and a fashion icon and still had to fight for everything she had due to hatred and racism.
