THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

Welcome!

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

Martin McDonagh's '20s era Irish chamber piece is a highly polished prize of social commentary.

So exquisitely crafted, "The Banshees of Inisherin" could work well as a Broadway play.

Martin McDonagh has usurped Lars von Trier at his own game. You want Dogme 95; here it is.

The work has a Shakespearean quality to it.

Personal, private, and communal forces drive McDonagh's thoughtful characters.

There is nothing flashy here, no fat on the bone.

Colin Farrell's and Brendan Gleeson's welcome return to working with Martin McDonagh, since doing "In Bruges" together in 2008, is something to savor.

Farrell and Gleeson deserve their reputations as two of the finest actors working today.

The tale of a break up between two close male buddies living on a tiny [fictitious] island, proves to be a great jumping off point for contemplating who we choose to spend our time with, and why.

Mental illness, it seems, might be contagious.

"The Banshees of Inisherin" brutally connects to the heart, mind, and soul of its viewer.

Confucius comes into play. "Seek revenge and you should dig two graves, one for yourself."

Hala-feckin-luya.

Rated R. 114 mins.

WILDCAT

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

Welcome!

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

More Direct Cinema than documentary, "Wildcat" takes an invisible approach to capturing its unfolding narrative.

Melissa Lesh and co-director Trevor Beck Frost spent several years working in the Peruvian rainforest with American wildlife rehabilitation specialist Samantha Zwicker and British Afghanistan war veteran Harry Turner.

Samantha and Harry have what it takes to handle living in the middle of the jungle. They make for a badass team. Naturally, carnal romance enters their entwined lives.

Both Samantha and Harry do battle with personal demons, his from war experiences, hers from growing up with an abusive alcoholic father.

Harry struggles with depression.

Samantha is more of a trooper. She doesn't wallow in the past.

Raising a lost ocelot cub for the 18 months it takes for the fierce creature to be released into the wild, allows for a similar trajectory for our complex leading characters, Samantha and Harry.

This is the first time such a rescue and release has ever been attempted.

No rule book for this shit.

Suffice it to say "Wildcat" is a deeply personal film that makes a transparent comparison between the jungles of Peru, and the jungle of society that we all traverse.

Challenging, thought-provoking, and suspenseful, "Wildcat" is a lot of movie.

Hearts will be broken.

Hearts will be healed.

Long live the wildcat.

Rated R. 106 mins.

TO CATCH A THIEF — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

Welcome!

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

Alfred Hitchcock goes on a full LGBTQ romp in this elegant romantic suspense classic.

Cary Grant is at his most swishy as John "The Cat" Robie, an ex-pat French Resistance fighter turned cat burglar. 

Check out Robie serving Quiche Lorraine to John Williams's  insurance agent high above the French Riviera at Robie's villa.

Gay code baby.

There's a reason Robie has stayed single all these years.

The lacking sexual chemistry between Grant and Kelly is appropriate for their opportunist characters.

It also serves to make the point that we are watching movie stars acting as if they are falling in love.

We can lean into Hitchcock's artistic flair for artificiality.

The fact that Grace Kelly's Frances character makes the first move when she kisses Robie at her hotel door, speaks volumes.

Robie may or may not have retired from stealing jewelry. Either way, a lot of fancy loot is going missing from Cannes Hotel rooms.

Hitchcock's filmic love letter to the Riviera features spectacular views of Cannes.

Check out the ever-impressive Carlton Hotel on the croisette, or the legendary Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc.

Lovely, but nothing can compare to Grace Kelly in her role as Frances Stevens, a husband-hunting nouveau riche object of desire.

Hitchcock gives Douglas Sirk a run for his money.

If you like costumes, this is your picture.

Glamor, light, and color explode from every frame of this delightful movie.

"To Catch A Thief" may be an atypical film for Hitchcock's sardonic oeuvre due to its lighthearted nature, but "To Catch a Thief" is a movie to sit back and savor whenever the mood strikes.

You'll always get a great cinematic kiss.

Rated PG. 106 mins.