Episcopal Academy
If that title sounds familiar, it is. It was the critical room in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, and Room 237 the film explores everything that film has to offer. While this films purpose is to explore everything I naturally do in these reviews, but some of the theories this film creates are mind blowing. Without … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Film of the Week – Room 237” »
Paul Thomas Anderson seems to have two types of films. The fun, show-off character study that is fast paced and oozes energy. His past three films, have been slow-paced, dark, and philosophic character studies. The only similarity between the two is the mere-fact that they share the genre that PTA has mastered, character studies. Every … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Film of the Week – The Master” »
The Dirties is one of the most clever film concepts I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Its a film about a two filmmakers who begins to make a film about death, and murder. This film suddenly turns into his reality as we see one of the characters decent into madness. Meanwhile the film … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Film of the Week – The Dirties” »
I needed to take a shower after watching this film. Its characters are the lowest low that this earth has to provide. They engage in rape, drugs, violence, and crime in order to entertain themselves and because they have nothing else going for them, this is all they live for. Now a little disclaimer before … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Film of the Week – Kids” »
I’ve recommended Spring Breakers to a lot of people. A majority end up watching it, assuming that Selena Gomez in a bikini equals a good movie. While it certainly doesn’t hurt, Harmony Korine’s latest feature is a film that far exceeds the other films Selena Gomez. Gomez, as well as a few other former child … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Film of the Week – Spring Breakers” »
Animated films that aren’t made for children have never done it for me. They often come off as one that should have been live action, and often never fully deliver. That’s why I was worried going into Richard Linklater’s Waking Life, a film that was shot and later turned into an animated one in post … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Film of the Week – Waking Life” »
“A homicidal car tire, discovering it has destructive psionic power, sets its sights on a desert town once a mysterious woman becomes its obsession.” This is the IMDB plot synopsis of Rubber, the Quentin Dupieux film that is almost unmatched in weirdness. It stars a series of unknowns, and a tire. A tire that through … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Film of the Week – Rubber” »
After pausing the film to go to the bathroom, upon my return I that my television was displaying a beautifully painted picture, not a movie. Every frame of this film is more beautiful than the last, and has the qualities of a painting. The films beauty does not end at the picture itself, but continues … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Film of the Week – The Tree of Life” »
Is film therapeutic? Or is it just a waste of time? Is it therapeutic for only the viewer, or is it for the filmmaker as well? These questions are at the forefront of Waltz with Bashir, Ari Folman’s animated documentary capturing his experience in the Lebanon war. Or so he thinks so. The director plays … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Film of the Week – Waltz with Bashir” »
Looking at this years most recent oscar nominees, they all seem to share a similar theme: none of them are as good as Short Term 12. It’s a low budget film that contains no expensive special effects, sets made in a warehouse, or fancy costumes. It’s a film that simply relies on its characters and … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Movie of the Week – Short Term 12” »
Nothing bothers me more than when a film sacrifices entertainment for symbolism and themes. I hate when the director thinks what he has to say is more important than the entertainment of his film, which at the end of the day is what a film has to be. However The Holy Mountain gets a pass … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Movie of the Week – The Holy Mountain” »
After his Oscar win, Charlie Kaufman was approached by sony pictures to create them a horror movie, and thus sprang Synecdoche: New York. A film that is not scary in a conventional sense, but rather in a sense of having a dream that no matter how hard you try, cannot be completed. This however is … Read More “Jackson’s Obscure Film of the Week – Synecdoche: New York” »