The first and last words spoken in IMMACULATE are the Hail Mary. That prayer takes on very different meanings in each context, and in between them we have a film that is uneven, but oddly fascinating. Taken on one level, it is a screed against the patriarchy, with a woman reduced to her womb. On… Read More »
THE NUN
The decline and fall of franchises is a phenomenon that is all too common, and yet still heartbreaking in its own way. For every James Bond or Star Wars, there are countless other series that started strong, usually with a film that was a one-off, the success of which led to studio bean-counters to push… Read More »
THE LITTLE HOURS
Jeff Baena has taken as his inspiration Bocaccio’s Decameron for his sly gem of a film about female frustration and empowerment, THE LITTLE HOURS. That 14th-century book is full of bawdy tales of people from all stratas of society behaving badly, and so they do in this film set very specifically in 1347. Like the… Read More »
Peter Mullan Avenges THE MAGDALENE SISTERS
Peter Mullan is a man of strong opinions and serious politics. And so it is no surprise that the story of the Magdalene girls, imprisoned in convents sometimes for the rest of their lives with no recourse or chance of appeal, would appeal to his sense of outrage and craving for social justice. When I spoke with him on… Read More »