From the moment its opening credits start to roll, an oh-so-’90s montage of helpless women accompanied by the voiceover of their captor, Kiss the Girls tells you exactly the kind of movie it is. Part of its moment’s spate of serial killer thrillers looking to capitalize on the success of The Silence of the Lambs, the movie’s differing story, as well as its preexisting source novel, do (just) enough to prevent it from being a rip-off.
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It’s easy to dismiss The Last Samurai at first glance as just another entry in the evergreen “soldier betrays his masters and goes native” subgenre. The formula has proven to be a robust one, but the movies it’s yielded have varied widely in quality – from the acclaimed Dances With Wolves to the beautiful but paper-thin Avatar. The Last Samurai proves to be one of the category’s best entries, setting itself apart through surefooted execution and a deeply human story. Continue reading
The Belko Experiment is a fine example of a movie that makes good on exactly what it promises: office drones murdering each other. If you want richly realized characters or narrative subtlety, you’re in the wrong theater. Continue reading