FRIENDSHIP
Welcome! Groupthink doesn’t live here, critical thought does. Punk heart still beating. This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda…
Social Satire
THE SURFER — CANNES 2024
Australian Cinema, Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, Social Satire, Surfing, Transgressive Cinema
One takeaway from “The Surfer” is if you find yourself in a situation where you are being embarrassed, humiliated, or…
THE SUBSTANCE — CANNES 2024
Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, Erotic, FIVE STARS, Horror, Sci-Fi, sex, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Transgressive Cinema, Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema
If you’ve seen Alain Robak’s hilarious 1990 horror blitz “Baby Blood,” then you’ll have some inkling for the wonderful gnarly…
LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT — SHOCKTOBER!
B-Movie, BDSM, Capsules Blog, Crime Thriller, Cult Film, Grindhouse, Horror, Independent Cinema, Re-boot, Serial Killer, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Transgressive Cinema, War, ZERO STARS
Wes Craven’s debut film is everything wrong with exploitation cinema. Mean spirited to its core, this film’s overriding theme seems…
ANORA — CANNES 2024
Agitprop, BDSM, Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, Corporate Corruption, Crime Drama, Erotic, FIVE STARS, Independent Cinema, LGBTQ, Romantic Comedy, Screwball Comedy, sex, Sexploitation, Social Satire, Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema
“Anora” is a winner, and an instant classic of American Independent Cinema. Cole Smithey.
MIDSOMMAR — SHOCKTOBER!
BDSM, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, Dystopia, FOUR STARS, Magical Realism, Serial Killer, sex, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Surrealism, Swedish Cinema, Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema
All you need to know going into this transgressive (if surrealistic) film is that it covers: animal abuse, cannibalism, incest,…
EYES WITHOUT A FACE — SHOCKTOBER!
BDSM, Black and White, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Channel, Criterion Collection, FIVE STARS, French Cinema, Gothic, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema
“Eyes Without A Face” is a rare horror film that allows the audience’s imagination to run wild, while also giving…
THE BIKERIDERS
FIVE STARS, Hollywood, LGBTQ, Punk, Reviews Blog, sex, Social Satire, Transgressive Cinema, War, Women's Cinema
Tom Hardy and Austin Butler have their hands full keeping up with Jodie Comer. “The Bikeriders” is an actor’s actors…
THE BIKERIDERS
Capsules Blog, FIVE STARS, Hollywood, Politics, Punk, sex, Social Satire, Transgressive Cinema, War, Women's Cinema
Primary to Jeff Nichols’s brilliant five-act film is the female perspective of its protagonist Kathy. Jodie Comer gives an Oscar-worthy…
LADY BIRD
Agitprop, Biopic, Capsules Blog, Coming-of-Age, Corporate Corruption, Cult Film, Current Affairs, Feminist Cinema, LGBTQ, Politics, sex, Social Satire, Women's Cinema, ZERO STARS
Lady Bird is a KAREN. The fact is indisputable and undeniable. Racist, homophobic, lazy, petty, selfish, sociopathic, disloyal, and dishonest,…
HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING — SHOCKTOBER!
British Cinema, Capsules Blog, Comedy, Criterion Collection, Cult Film, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Women's Cinema
Is “How To Get Ahead In Advertising” a one-of-a-kind satirical masterpiece? Yes, yes it is. Cole Smithey.
THE MACHINIST — SHOCKTOBER!
Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Corporate Corruption, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, Psychological Thriller, Social Satire, Transgressive Cinema
“The Machinist” is a well-crafted psychological thriller about self-deception and tragedy, told against an eerie landscape of terrifying dislocation and…
FEUD: CAPOTE VS. THE SWANS
Biopic, Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, LGBTQ, Literary Adaptation, sex, Social Satire, Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema
Mired in the cruelty of its real-life characters, the series starts off bumpy. If you can make it past the…
BRATS
Classic Cinema, Coming-of-Age, Corporate Corruption, Criterion Collection, Cult Film, Documentary, FIVE STARS, Hollywood, Media, Reviews Blog, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Drama, sex, Social Satire, Video Essay, Women's Cinema
Andrew McCarthy crafts an exquisitely satisfying base-touching expedition with his Gen X comrades, whose careers suffered as a result of…
KINDS OF KINDNESS — CANNES 2024
Art Film, BDSM, Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, Dance, Experimental, Greek Cinema, sex, Sexploitation, Social Satire, ZERO STARS
Since going mainstream with the shockingly delightful “Poor Things,” the heir-apparent to such Cinema heavyweights as Michael Haneke, Peter Greenaway,…
SLATBURN
Black Comedy, British Cinema, Capsules Blog, Erotic, FIVE STARS, LGBTQ, sex, Sexploitation, Social Satire, Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema
Writer/director Emerald Fennell helps usher in 2023 as the year that Cinema came back to life, with a transgressive black…
NIGHT GAMES — SHOCKTOBER!
Black and White, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, LGBTQ, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Swedish Cinema, Transgressive Cinema, Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema
“Night Games” retains its ability to shock viewers after over 50 years due to Mai Zetterling’s intuitive ability to dig…
HOUSE — SHOCKTOBER!
Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, Cult Film, Dystopia, FIVE STARS, Horror, Japanese Cinema, Political Psychological Drama, Political Satire, Punk, Rock 'n' Roll, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Surrealism, Transgressive Cinema, War, War Fantasy, Women's Cinema
Visually and viscerally stunning from start to finish, “House” is much more than a mere masterpiece. Cole Smithey.
ENTER THE VOID — SHOCKTOBER!
Argentinean Cinema, Capsules Blog, Dystopia, FOUR STARS, Horror, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Transgressive Cinema
“Enter the Void” is such a virtuosic, if orgiastic, piece of experimental exploitation cinema that the audience is simultaneously repulsed…
HARD CANDY — SHOCKTOBER!
BDSM, Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, Psychological Thriller, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Women's Cinema
Strikingly filmed and exquisitely performed by its principally two-person cast (Ellen Page, Patrick Wilson), “Hard Candy” is an intense reversal…
COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA
