1968, Los Angeles. It’s a time and place that was recently brought back to life in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It was also the year the French filmmaking couple Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy both shot films in Los Angeles. Demy’s Model Shop has been cited as inspiration for Tarantino’s film. But it in a way, I find Varda’s Lions Love to be the more interesting look at the city in this crucial year. Certainly, as a counter-culture counterpoint to Tarantino’s film, it offers a lot to consider. I wrote about it over at Aquarium Drunkard.

aquarium drunkardSean EricksonJanuary 6, 2022film criticism, film review, movies, Lions Love, Agnes VardaComment

Doctor Death @ Aquarium Drunkard

Just in time for the holidays, a brilliant 30-year-old home movie that proves there is no minimum age requirement to producing feats of cinematic wonderment. Head over to Aquarium Drunkard and have a look at my love letter to the post-apocalyptic mini epic that is 1989’s Doctor Death.

aquarium drunkardSean EricksonDecember 2, 2021movies, Doctor Death, film reviewComment

Half-Cocked @ Aquarium Drunkard

A piece on 1994’s HALF-COCKED for Aquarium Drunkard’s Videodrome column.

aquarium drunkardSean EricksonSeptember 7, 2021movies, half-cockedComment

Berlinale Film Festival 2021, Industry Event, Day 4

It’s a trifecta today: a brilliant three-chapter Japanese film WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY, the impressive Iranian tragedy BALLAD OF A WHITE COW, and the psychedelic mind-bending document of Hawaii that is Fern Silva’s ROCK BOTTOM RISER.

Berlinale Film Festival 2021, Industry Event, Day 1

Altogether, around 150 at-home screenings were made available to the press. We had five days to watch them. I was able to watch 22 of them. This is Part One.

Alien: Covenant (2017)

Is it possible for an Alien movie to still offer surprises? If you've been following the trajectory of these movies for the past few decades, you'd be forgiven for considering the series exhausted. And while I'm willing to admit that lowered expectations may influence my appraisal, it doesn't diminish the fact that Alien: Covenant is by far the best of the last thirty years. But not only that, it's a terrifically twisted horror movie that stands rather well on its own.

Something NewSean EricksonJune 16, 2017Alien: Covenant, Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender, movies, movie review, movie, film, film reviewComment

Free Fire (2017)

What Ben Wheatley's Free Fire does have is a gleeful bloodlust and rambunctious charm that carries it surprisingly far.

Something NewSean EricksonMay 6, 2017Free Fire, Ben Wheatley, movies, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, violence, movie review, film review, filmComment

Paterson (2016)

The latest film from Jim Jarmusch is a another meditative character study that proves the auteur is still a master craftsman at the top of his game. Though it might be considered a "small" movie, Paterson has a big heart, with a lot to say about how and why we create art.

Something NewSean EricksonNovember 26, 2016movie review, Jim Jarmusch, Adam Driver, movies, film, film reviewComment

Doctor Strange (2016)

With help from the magical Tilda Swinton, and a physics-defying set piece that is a high-point in the Marvel filmography so far, Doctor Strange has enough style to overcome some weak points in the character department and actually make the 3D surcharge worthwhile.

Something NewSean EricksonNovember 4, 2016Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scott Derrickson, Marvel, movies, movie review, film review, movie, filmComment

Academy Award Apathy, Before & After

Brace yourself for yet another Oscar think piece as I brace myself for Mad Max: Fury Road's inevitable best picture loss. Then I get more philosophical about what effect the Oscars really have on the movie's we watch and how bad Spotlight's win is for movies in general and for the chances of anyone taking the Academy Awards seriously.

Into the VoidSean EricksonMarch 4, 2016movies, oscars, academy awards, mad max, mad max: fury road, spotlight, film theory, film criticismComment

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