MacSwell
Celluloid Junkie
Member Since: 06 Feb 2014
Location: Camden, London, UK
Age: 34
Bio: Nice beaver
Featured Reviews
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Judge Priest (1934) - Rated 23 Sep 2020
"Though established in the opening text as an uncommonly tolerant veteran of the Confederacy, Priest still treats his black “friend” like a plantation houseboy. False sanctimony aside, Ford’s gentle celebration of the postbellum South is a hopeless bore without any spark or whimsy, with Rogers limp as the judge and Stepin Fetchit barely intelligible in the ugly, stereotypical persona which would eventually make him Hollywood’s first African-American millionaire."
Love Is Colder Than Death (1969) - Rated 23 Jun 2020
"Fassbinder’s first is all style over substance, but the simplicity and nonchalance give it a coolness that many of its French New Wave influences try too hard for and completely miss. As such, the narrative thinness is easily overlooked, as the laid-back aesthetic, particularly that of the central trio walking down the street accompanied only by the sound of shoe on cobble, is sufficiently entrancing."
Trans-Europ-Express (1966) - Rated 13 Jan 2021
"Robbe-Grillet’s brilliant work of metafiction can be considered a crowning achievement of the Nouvelle Vague in how it deconstructs the conventional framework of cinema so uniquely. Directed and edited with breezy playfulness and mesmerising style, there’s just so much visual and conceptual flair on display, complimented by a superb Trintignant performance at its centre."
An Inn in Tokyo (1935) - Rated 15 Jul 2020
"The striking balance of childhood innocence against parental tribulation provides the emotional backbone to Ozu’s final silent, achingly capturing the humanity of a single father unable to provide for his two young sons. Filmed with just a handful of actors, simple props and threadbare sets, the lack of anything resembling a budget makes its portrait of desperate poverty all the more effective, and the end result all the more admirable."
The Great Gildersleeve (1942) - Rated 19 Feb 2019
"There's very little that can be said to be "great" about Throckmorton Gildersleeve, a petty, mean, mendacious blowhard who somehow also manages to be completely unlikeable. It certainly doesn't help that Peary's substandard slapstick or Scooby-Doo giggle stand in for a punchline at the end of most scenes - his is the kind of lazily written schtick that might have stretched a smile or two in the '40s but couldn't possibly entertain a modern-day audience."
The Celebration (1998) - Rated 06 Sep 2020
"The rough Dogme style is a brilliant framework for such challenging, uncomfortable drama, bringing to the screen an uncommon immediacy and realness. Vinterberg brings matters to the boil with the careful patience of a master craftsman, and his film becomes heart-poundingly tense once it gets going, while still finding the time for the odd blackly comic aside to test its squirming audience even further. Every reaction is completely genuine to its character, and each actor perfectly cast."
Speak Easily (1932) - Rated 06 Sep 2020
"It’s a sad thing to see silent film’s brightest talent reduced to starring in such drab material. Keaton, in the midst of battles with alcohol and studio heads, and with no creative control, shows only crumbs of his comedic brilliance in a buttoned-up role. Thelma Todd is the only cast member who shines; Jimmy Durante stinks."
Wizards (1977) - Rated 06 Oct 2017
"The animation is substandard and the characters absolutely stink, yet there's something oddly enjoyable and compelling about Wizards in spite of this. It exceeds its limitations just because it's so unusual and tonally wild, with Bakshi's incorporation of bloody battles and real Nazi footage into a childish fantasy backdrop yielding some weird, psychedelic results that do occasionally impress."
The Red and the White (1967) - Rated 16 Apr 2020
"By presenting two sides barely distinguishable from one another and locked in an unspecified conflict, Jancsó makes a simple but powerful statement on the absurdity and futility of warfare. The elaborate long takes are stunningly shot and imbue the action with a manic authenticity, while the cool detachment from story and character strips the always-shifting subjects of any individuality or heroism, in turn rendering each death and sacrifice entirely inconsequential."
Joker (2019) - Rated 15 Jul 2020
"Joker too often goes beyond being just a Scorsese homage, instead lifting a lot of its best content from the superior films of a superior filmmaker, and its presentation of mental illness is less profound than it is simply timely. The general aesthetic achieved is glorious though, and Phoenix’s blistering performance proves yet again that he is one of Hollywood’s most capable actors."