Tag / nicolas cage

by Jaime Rebanal

‘Wild at Heart’ Review: A Tender, Twisted, Dark Love Story from David Lynch

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David Lynch’s Wild at Heart received the Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival in 1990, yet it still seems to have remained heavily underrated in his filmography. Among many things that one could ever find themselves loving about Wild at Heart, it’s also like looking at a new side of the David Lynch that one would be familiar with and even if the sudden shift in tone may not work for the most dedicated of his fans, it still results in what I see to be one of his most beautiful films by far. If there’s any other way to describe Wild at Heart, it would only be fitting to describe it as the happiest film that David Lynch might ever leave us behind with, but it still perfectly blends together all the distinctive elements of surrealism in order to create one of the most romantic movies that could ever have been made too.

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by Jaime Rebanal

‘Color Out of Space’ TIFF Review: Nicolas Cage Goes Wild in this Dazzling H. P. Lovecraft Take

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Horror auteur Richard Stanley’s first full-length directorial effort in twenty seven years since his firing from The Island of Dr. Moreau, Color Out of Space is possibly the best adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft to have graced the screen not to be directed by Stuart Gordon. There’s no better way to sum up what one can expect from an adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft starring Nicolas Cage than to say it is one among his most beautiful looking films and even one of his most unhinged works to date. One can only set their expectations high up when seeing the possibilities of what a combination like Nicolas Cage and H. P. Lovecraft can bring out, but knowing what it is that Richard Stanley was able to bring to the screen with such a combination, the results are far beyond what one could ever comprehend. If there’s anything else worth noting, here’s hoping that we get to see Richard Stanley get to work behind the camera again far more often in the future.

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by Jaime Rebanal

The Joys of Spider-Man’s Long Lasting Legacy with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: A Review

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I’ve never been the biggest Spider-Man fan growing up, even to the point I find Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy quite overrated minus Spider-Man 2. Yet watching Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse I never found myself watching Spider-Man in the same way that I’ve always done so for way too long. As a matter of fact, this is also the first time in which I’d actually felt I was watching a take on Spider-Man that I’ve been waiting on for way too long, one that feels like the sort of superhero film I’d wanted to see all my life. It’s a superhero film that embraces everything that made the subgenre resonate so perfectly in our minds, because of how much it embraces its comic book roots. And for being the perfect throwback in that sense, not only does Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse make for an incredibly satisfying viewing experience, but it also feels like a film that reaches out to best carry the spirit of what makes its comic book roots so distinctive – and one that even utilizes its own medium to become something far more in the end. It’s only fitting enough to admit that this is the most excited I’ve been for a sequel to a superhero film in a while, if they were ever going to make one at that.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Adaptation – Review

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There’s a feeling that comes into my head when I’m trying to write something that I end up thinking it’s only going to come off as unbelievably self-indulgent, which I suppose might be the best way to go on with talking about a film like Spike Jonze’s Adaptation. Adaptation, Charlie Kaufman’s most indulgent script, and yet by a mile it is also one of his most fascinating experiments to date. But maybe it’s because I always watch this and look back at what it is that I’m doing, and after having achieved so much success, I know I don’t want to disappoint. I know I don’t want to disappoint numerous people who have followed along me, so I come to the point I stint my own writing for long periods of time. But for a man like Charlie Kaufman, it’s already hard enough from what I can imagine to follow up a film like Being John Malkovich for as bizarre and as clever as its own concept is, and it’s that sense of honesty that allows me to admire Adaptation all the more.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Snowden – Review

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I am not a big fan of Oliver Stone. While I admire his willingness when it comes to what subjects he wishes to tackle and how closely dedicated he seems to be towards what he chooses to tell, there’s a common problem I find with his work especially when it tries to tell a story within said area: they feel so one-sided. So when the idea came about that he was set to direct a film about the life of Edward Snowden rather quickly after Laura Poitras covered him in her documentary Citizenfour, two things came to my mind: 1) why is a biopic about him being released this soon after Citizenfour, and 2) do we really have enough information about Edward Snowden to make a biopic this instant? It made clear to me why Snowden was a pointless film.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Snake Eyes – Review

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Brian De Palma putting Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon and Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train together into one, and the results are nothing less than pleasing. When he is at his most intriguing, Brian De Palma’s work around conspiracy thrillers is never anything below entertaining but to see him and Nicolas Cage come together is where all the promise of Snake Eyes comes in. There are a fair share of weaknesses that ultimately hinder Snake Eyes from becoming up to par with where it could reach knowing how De Palma creates the core of conspiracy (best shown in Blow Out, which I still consider to be his finest work) but as every key moment comes together, it shows Brian De Palma’s best capabilities with mysteries, an area in which he is at his most compelling. Continue reading →