@curiosity-inc
Movie Curiosities: Nomadland
February 21, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Okay. Here’s the big mainstream awards darling, the film that everyone and their favorite talk show host has been trying to sell as the big Best Picture contender of 2020. Even though it didn’t screen outside of festivals anywhere until 2021. Whatever. Let’s see what we’ve got. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Judas and the Black Messiah
February 18, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Mother of mercy, where to begin with this one? Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Space Sweepers
February 9, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
We’ve got another foreign oddity out of Netflix, everyone! This time, it’s Korea’s debut effort at a blockbuster film to break into western markets. Let’s see what we’ve got, shall we?
Movie Curiosities: Malcolm & Marie
February 7, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
It’s a film with a cast of two, shot in black and white, set exclusively in a single house. It isn’t hard to guess that this one was entirely conceived, written, filmed, edited, and released during the COVID-19 pandemic. And yet — in a pointed contrast with Locked Down — the film itself has absolutely nothing to do with the pandemic. Oh, and it’s a film with a black cast that isn’t about racial trauma? Even better! Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Below Zero
February 2, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
It’s been a while since I last tried a foreign-language oddity. Kudos to Netflix for delivering something that might not even have hit my local arthouses in the Before Times. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: The Dig
January 31, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you.
Joseph Fink
The Dig comes to us from screenwriter Moira Buffini, who previously gave us the Jane Eyre adaptation of 2011 (YAY!) and Tamara Drewe of 2010 (BOO!). The director this time is Simon Stone, here making his sophomore effort after The Daughter in 2015. Never heard of that one, but it looks interesting. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: The Little Things
January 30, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Friedrich Nietzche
The Little Things comes to us from John Lee Hancock, the same writer/director who previously made The Blind Side and Saving Mr. Banks. This should give you a good idea about the level of quality to expect: An Oscar-bait drama that’s pretty and well-acted, but ultimately hollow. Also, if such lighter fare is what Hancock is comfortable with, no wonder this bloody neo-noir came up short. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: The White Tiger
January 26, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
In 2009, the Academy Award for Best Picture went to Slumdog Millionaire. It was a modern fairy tale romance in which a young man from the slums goes on a game show to try and reach out to a lost childhood love, but he ends up winning the game show and becoming wealthy because by some strange twist of fate, his entire life story taught him everything he needed to win.
In 2020, the Academy Award for Best Picture went to Parasite. It was a pitch black satire about a family in the gutters who lie their way into jobs as servants for oblivious rich people, until things finally boil over with tragic and bloody results.
Put the two together and you’ve got The White Tiger, written and directed by Ramin Bahrani, adapted from the novel by Aravind Adiga. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Locked Down
January 18, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
We all knew it had to happen, and it happened surprisingly quickly: A feature film from a major mainstream studio (albeit one with a relatively microscopic $3 million reported budget) with a star-studded A-list cast, entirely developed, produced, set, and shot during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Outside the Wire
January 17, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Netflix recently announced an initiative for 2021, promising a new original film every week through the coming year. It might be fair to wonder how Netflix could possibly keep such an ambitious release schedule when none of the Big Five major studios could do as much even before the pandemic. At a guess, it might help that Netflix doesn’t seem interested in throwing $200 million at a lavish tentpole release and praying for billion-dollar grosses. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Wendy
January 16, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Benh and Eliza Zeitlin — the writing/directing team of siblings that previously brought us the kickass awards darling Beasts of the Southern Wild — finally came out with their sophomore feature after eight goddamn years, and it’s a reimagining of Peter Pan. Holy shit, sign me up. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Valley Girl (2020)
January 13, 2021 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
My friends, there’s a crisis looming, and we can’t afford to delay it any longer: The ’00s sucked. Read the rest of this entry →
