Daughters of Fire is not a series of scary images that is hollow at its centre. This is a movie loaded with meaning, intent and things to say both with its scares as well as in addition to these scares. 7/10
Tag: <span>1970s</span>
I’ve seen recent examples of how you can tell a story about this sort of underage relationship without sexualizing it. But that’s not what The Beguines is there to do. The Beguines is there to be sexy.
I almost liked Black Cobra Woman. I understood its reason for existence, it had one very fun death scene and more queer content than I expected. But this still isn’t a good movie. 4.7/10
The Great Swindle gets high marks for style. But as a film about cons and deceptions, it needs much more substance in addition to its style. 5.3/10
It’s a huge step up for a Jess Franco film to be boring. Usually, his films are incompetent. That makes this easily objectively one of his stronger films that I’ve seen. 4.6/10
I’m not saying there are no nude scenes, but women actually spend more of the film with their clothes on, crafting complex relationships and inherently critiquing the Catholic church. 7.5/10
It’s obvious Ulrike Ottinger is intelligent and wants her art to say things. She also wants to experiment. But the thing about experiments is that they don’t always work. While Madame X’s feminist statement came through, some specifics were probably lost on me. 5.6/10
There’s so many issues of taste and morals worthy of critique in Helga, She Wolf of Stilberg. But my main issue with the film is how half-assed it is. If you’re gonna go there, go there! Make a movie too extreme for me to watch. Helga wasn’t that at all. 3.2/10
This is a well-shot movie with a genuinely interesting psychosexual dynamic between its leads. But don’t worry, there’s still tits aplenty as well. 6.9/10
The War Widow undoubtedly looks like a 1976 TV movie. But within that framework, there is a sweet, small yet quietly radical romance. 6.3/10