Crystal Embers
Month: May 2019
The Endless
Ah, cheap micro-budgeted filmmakers. How often they go wrong, but when they go right, magic happens. Aaron Moorehead and Justin Benson are a writer/director pair that have managed to make a handful of movies on virtually no money. They are models to be admired. The Endless is the first of their films I've seen, and… Continue reading The Endless
Personal Shopper
This movie almost had me. It was interesting up to a point, and then it just began to fall apart. Personal Shopper was apparently quickly pulled together after the collapse of another production, and it ends up feeling like it. There are unresolved and unexplored bits from at least three different movies here. It's not… Continue reading Personal Shopper
Europa Europa
Operating under the assumption that everything in this film really happened, finishing your movie with two events that are both effectively deus ex machinas is dramatically unsatisfying. Here is a movie dripping in irony. A young German Jew flees to Poland in the late 30s with his family. After Germany and Russia attack, he's separated… Continue reading Europa Europa
The Devil’s Eye
By all accounts, Ingmar Bergman was a jovial and fun guy. In interviews, he's always smiling and happy. He was married five times and had affairs with most of his attractive female actresses. That doesn't seem like the kind of guy who made exclusively dour explorations of existential spaces, and he didn't. Most of what… Continue reading The Devil’s Eye
David Vining, Author 