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Showing posts from August, 2015

Mistress America

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Hello everyone! You can find my new review at  culturedvultures.com . Also thank you for 4000 views, I hope you are all enjoying the reviews!

The Gift

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To be honest, I expected little from the Gift. This was mostly due to it being produced by Blumhouse, whose previous work includes "masterpieces" such as Insidious, the Purge and Sinister. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Joel Edgerton's directorial debut, which neatly twisted from a standard horror flick to an intense psychological thriller. Jason Bateman, from Arrested Development fame, delivers a surprisingly convincing performance as Simon, who moves to LA with wife Robyn (Rebecca Hall, excellent) for a "fresh start." They meet Gordo (Edgerton), an old school friend of Simon's, who catches them off guard with his hospitality, stopping by at their house regularly to deliver gifts and have dinner with them. Simon is disturbed by Gordo's persistent presence and asks him to stay away, which is where the trouble begins.  Edgerton delivers a standout performance, playing the socially awkward Gordo subtly enough to create doubt among the viewer a

Legend: what real life crime films reveal about popular culture

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In Epping forest, a horse race between Reggie and Ronnie Kray ends in a violent display of bad sportsmanship. “He felled it with one almighty blow,” Tom Mangold described in the Times, referring to Reggie’s horse that Ronnie lost to. This rather unorthodox reaction reflects the personalities of the Kray twins, the infamous leaders of “The Firm”, a London gang which oversaw a large network of organised crime in the 1960’s East End. The unpredictable and explosive brothers, with Ronnie dying in 1995 and Reggie in 2000, have been cast back into the spotlight by new film Legend, releasing this September, which follows their path to becoming notorious gangsters, with Tom Hardy portraying both figures. Mangold complimented his performance (or performances), describing them as “uncannily accurate.” The film depicts them as sharply dressed gentlemen, with one image showing them shrouded in cigarette smoke as they cruise through the streets in a leather seated car. Having both been gi