Film Review: “The Card Counter”

The closer we get, the farther away we slip

La Linda (Tiffany Haddish) tries to connect with Bill (Oscar Isaac).

In Paul Schrader’s new offering The Card Counter, the venerable writer/director proves that exploring the question of why humans can never quite find real connection will always make for worthwhile, if somewhat challenging viewing. Continue reading “Film Review: “The Card Counter””

Film Review: Midsommar

Summertime… and the living is… in doubt

Ari Aster's film Midsommar
Travelers arrive at the village of the Harga.

We all look to the light for safety, for warmth, for life. Filmmakers use light to communicate safety or victory, and definitely health. In almost every hospital scene, convalescing characters lie in a bed, tucked safely in sheets, looking out to friends and family, as if to say, “whew … I made it. I’m alive. I’m here,” Hospital sets usually include rejuvenating daytime light cascading in from expansive windows.

All the more impressive, then, that Ari Aster’s ambitious, perplexing, unrelenting film Midsommar uses, abuses, and undermines light, to prove that dread can build in any season, horror respects no clock, and terror can strike on the brightest of sunshiny days.

Continue reading “Film Review: Midsommar