Tag: Jena Malone

Movie Review: BOTTOM OF THE WORLD is David Lynch-lite all the way, but still worth your time.

On By ANDREW HOPEIn Movie Reviews9 Comments

bottom-of-the-world

Here’s the IMDB.com synopsis for Bottom of the World: “A mysterious disappearance of a young woman leads her boyfriend on a journey for truth and perhaps his own unknown reality in this dark, hypnotic mystery that transcends the limitations of traditional narrative.”  Although it’s poorly written, it does its job well enough, and that’s to sell the movie.  I didn’t watch it because of this – the movie arrived with nary a word about it, so I have the benefit of reading the blurb with hindsight.  I’m not here to pick the writing apart, just using it to bolster my take on it.

Continue reading “Movie Review: BOTTOM OF THE WORLD is David Lynch-lite all the way, but still worth your time.” →

Movie Review: THE NEON DEMON – Nicolas Winding’s Refn’s pretentious horror piece reflects the vacuousness of its modeling world setting

On By ANDREW HOPEIn Movie Reviews3 Comments

neon-demon

The Neon Demon is one of those self-aggrandizing pieces of cinema fluff that seems designed purely to win  (or at least compete) during awards season.  It’s relatively easy to spot them: they trade in style over substance in both plot and character, and they are darlings of the art-cinema set.  Since moving from Europe to the US, Nicolas Winding Refn has become largely a purveyor of the kind of ponderous languid drama that’s generally hailed by film-school analysts as works of brilliance, and derided by critics as bland, featureless pap.  No secrets here: I’m in the latter camp.  In The Neon Demon, he invites derision from the get go, intentionally or otherwise: not only does the movie throw his name ahead of the credits, when the actual title card appears onscreen it’s also accompanied by his initials in a small vertical strip.  I hate using the word pretentious to describe movies, but I’ll certainly use it here.

Continue reading “Movie Review: THE NEON DEMON – Nicolas Winding’s Refn’s pretentious horror piece reflects the vacuousness of its modeling world setting” →