Renfield movie review: it mostly sucks
Nicholas Hoult is lovely. Hammy Nicolas Cage is amusing. But everyone in this movie is in a different movie; the tonal mismatches are baffling. Was it the first draft of this script that was greenlit?
Rare Objects movie review: broken things, on the mend
It’s overstuffed and often jarring. But it’s also honest and unassuming, never insipid or sentimental, with a rough power, a generous spirit, and performances that are warm, wise, and perceptive.
daily stream: no, the Devil did not make them do it
2012’s Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God is on HBO Max in the US, on Apple TV in the UK.
The Pope’s Exorcist movie review: ham and cheese on why?
More of the same old religious-horror hoohah, plus Russell Crowe hamming it up, complete with terrible Italian accent. Its only twist on the usual exorcist-movie nonsense is genuinely pretty appalling.
daily stream: the most beautiful movie of 2022
2022’s The Quiet Girl is on Prime and Apple TV on both sides of the Atlantic.
loaded question: what are the best standalone episodes in TV shows with big arcs or mythologies?
I have so many examples, but I’ll just mention the X-Files episode “Humbug”…
daily stream: end of an era for journalism and publishing
The brand-new documentary Turn Every Page is on Prime and Apple TV on both sides of the Atlantic.
daily stream: while you’re waiting to learn how to blow up a pipeline…
2014’s Night Moves is on Fandor in the US, Mubi in the UK, and lots of other services on both sides of the Atlantic.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline movie review: it means the earth to them
A heist drama, incendiary and intense, with planetary stakes. These young people are desperate, with nothing to lose, and everyone older than them made them this way. Nihilism is their only optimism.
daily stream: when the world pushes men to ridiculous displays of masculinity
2018’s The Mercy is new on Kanopy in the US, on StudioCanal Presents in the UK (and on many other services on both sides of the Atlantic, too).
