Film Review: Vermines (Infested)

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Category: Cinéma - Movies

Published: Thursday, 18 April 2024 23:22

Written by Gilbert Seah

INFESTED (VERMINES) (Frane 2023) *** 1/2

Directed by Sébastien Vanicek

` Spiders have always freaked humans out as creepy crawlers.  One can imagine the horror of a spider killed and dozens of little baby spiders crawling out of the mother’s body. It is no surprise that spider horror movies are almost a genre in itself with films like ARACHNOPHOBIA, EIGHT-LEGGED FREAKS, TARANTULA, EARTH VS. THE SPIDER, most of them not very good.  From France, premiering at Cannes last year arrives INFESTED (previous title: VERMIN), arguably the best of the lot, and is as creepy as hell.

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Film Review: Le Regne Animal

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Category: Cinéma - Movies

Published: Tuesday, 12 March 2024 19:40

Written by Gilbert Seah

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM (LE REGNE ANIMAL)( France 2023) ***½

Directed by Thomas Cailley

Films of the dystopian genre often have one parent and one daughter or son escape from predators while etching out survival in the country.  THE ANIMAL KINGDOM puts a bit of spin on the genre with a father and son left alone in the dystopian futuristic society in which the mother had turned into an animal.

Set in the near future, Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom (La Règne animal) is a trippy French thriller about a mysterious phenomenon that is gradually transforming parts of the population into human-animal hybrids.

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Film Review: Dogman

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Category: Cinéma - Movies

Published: Friday, 05 April 2024 12:04

Written by Gilbert Seah

DOGMAN (France 2023) ***½

A film by Luc Besson

“Wherever there is an unfortunate, God sends a dog.” is a quote that is used in the film.  The unfortunate in the film is Kaleb (Caleb Landry Jones), a man dished out all the misfortunes of life.  His saviour is the canine species, a whole lot of dogs that bid Kaleb’s every command.

It all begins with an emergency at the Detention Centre.  Kolbe is injured and in drag.  He is questioned by a psychologist, who leaves her daughter with her mother in the middle of the night to handle this emergency.  At first hesitant, Kaleb eventually opens up to the psychologist.  His story unfolds as he tells his story, shown to the audience in flashbacks.

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Film Review: La Passion de Dodin Bouffant

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Category: Cinéma - Movies

Published: Tuesday, 06 February 2024 20:44

Written by Gilbert Seah

THE TASTE OF THINGS (THE POT-AU-FEU) (France 2023) ****

Directed by Anh Hung Tran

The film THE TASTE OF THINGS begins with an extended cooking scene amidst a breakfast that is enjoyed by both Eugénie (Juliette Binoche) and her boss of 20 years, Dodin (Benoît Magimel).  The audience is introduced to both Eugenie and Dodin as well as their two young helpers Pauline and Violette.  Though slow-moving and meticulously filmed, the total segment (not done with a single take but with frequent cuts, yet with the camera swirling around the kitchen) lasts more than 30 minutes and might require some patience to watch as well as to sit through this 2 hour-15 minute historical romance drama.  But the effort is well worth it.  From the gardens outside the residence where fresh vegetables are cultivated to the kitchen where all the stocks are made from scratch using exotic ingredients like crayfish, veal short ribs and quenelles, the film illustrates gastronomical delights.  Mouths will be watering as one can almost smell the fragrances of the cooking ingredients.  As the segment unfolds, the audience also learns about the couple.

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