Filmrecensies van Eric Hillis

If you're unfamiliar with the events it's depicting, Lords of Chaos will probably have you gripped, if confused, but ultimately it's little more than a diverting advert for the Wikipedia page labelled 'Early Norwegian black metal scene'. Recensie

Farrands plainly has a lot of sympathy for Tate, and his film is an odd case of a filmmaker attempting to rescue a real-life victim and rewrite the past. Noble, perhaps, but the general shoddy execution of his film does this concept no favours. Recensie

Like many of today's genre filmmakers, Peele could benefit from a co-writer to help iron out his storytelling. He's in danger of becoming the next M. Night Shyamalan, a horror auteur whose ingenious concepts fail to fit organically into his movies. Recensie

It all gets a bit silly by the end, and its portrayal of the world of drug addicts suggests nobody involved has ever encountered a real life addict, but Ben is Back does boast two outstanding central performances, which may prove enough to keep viewers engaged. Recensie

Despite the potential in Greta's scenario to explore such themes as urban isolation, the loneliness of our elder citizens and the divide between millenials and previous generations, Greta is as shallow a thriller as any of its made for TV or straight to VOD cousins. Recensie

There's an effectively atmospheric 45 minute episode of a TV horror anthology that might be extracted from The Wind, but in its current state the flashback padding results in little more than a light bluster. Tammi does enough to hint at more rewarding horror work to come, but The Wind fails to register high on the BOO-fort scale. Recensie

I have a feeling I may return to Under the Silver Lake in a decade or so and smack myself for not recognising its true genius, but today, in 2019, it's merely a commendable failure, probably the best bad movie you'll see all year. Recensie

Alpha: The Right to Kill is aesthetically very much a graduate of the Michael Mann school of crime drama, but thematically it's political in a way Mann's films rarely are. Recensie

Queer cinema has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. Yet we still get movies like Tell It to the Bees, movies more interested in superficially critiquing homophobia than in celebrating sexual freedom. Recensie

Where Alex Ross Perry's Her Smell, which similarly charts the career of a troubled female singer, sends you out on a high with its climactic stage show, Vox Lux leaves you contemplating the movie that might have been. Recensie

With its emphasis on character over plot and overblown, uninvolving action, Spider-Man: Homecoming was a welcome departure for Marvel, but Captain Marvel is a step backwards, a return to a generic plot that revolves around the retrieval of a glowing blue Macguffin. Recensie

Ash Is Purest White is utterly captivating for at least two thirds of its running time, thanks in no small part to the magnetic presence of Zhao. But as with Zhangke's previous film, it peters out with a whimper in a final stretch that fails to replicate the insight and energy that have gone before. Recensie

There's little in the way of character or story to grasp onto and it's far too long, but Need For Speed is a refreshingly innocent throwback to a lost era of analog action. See it at your local drive-in. Recensie

Clarkson is one of our most under-appreciated stars, so it's nice to see her get a lead role. But even an actress as watchable as Clarkson can't save this lifeless science experiment gone wrong, and it doesn't help that her character overlooks obvious details in her investigation. Recensie

For all its problematic aspects, Waters' film always expresses an affection for its characters, representations which are joyously non-judgemental. Recensie

A movie about the tragedy of being unable to fully embrace the people you share a society and nation with sounds like a melancholy slog, but 3 Faces is far from it. It's essentially a comedy of the Capra/Sturges school, and with its roster of oddball characters it has something of David Byrne's True Stories about it. Recensie

Servillo is a force of nature, his performance so sleazy he leaves a sweat trail everywhere he moves. Recensie

Werewolf is a rugged and well directed thriller, an Eastern European cousin of the tough horror movies produced by independent American cinema in the Vietnam era. Recensie

There's something very simplistic however about how Attia presents this process, and it requires a sizeable suspension of disbelief if you're to go along with how easily Riadh is able to trace his son's steps. Recensie

Fisher is a real find, and her rawness sets her apart from the more conventionally trained young actors that surround her. Like every great comic performer, she can sell not just comedy but pathos, and though it takes a long time for Kayla's chipper facade to finally crack, Fisher lets us know from the off that we're watching someone suffering from serious social anxiety. Recensie

Remove its stylistic conceit and Blind Spot is little more than a bottle episode of a TV hospital drama. What keeps us engaged is the quality of the performances. Recensie

With a few adjustments to Vincent's character, Family First may have been a compelling, if derivative crime drama, but the insufferable Pellerin will have you wishing JP would tell his brother to "Look at the rabbits". Recensie

Had Chomko given the key character in her drama a greater role, rather than dismissing her as simply some sort of unwanted nuisance, What They Had would be an easier recommend. As it is, it's a perfectly pleasing time-passer, but one that does little to further onscreen representations of mental illness. Recensie

The Aftermath is a sloppy piece of storytelling, with subplots that are nowhere near as fleshed out as they really should be. Recensie