Capsules Blog

THE MACHINIST — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Corporate Corruption, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, Psychological Thriller, , Transgressive Cinema

August 4, 2024

“The Machinist” is a well-crafted psychological thriller about self-deception and tragedy, told against an eerie landscape of terrifying dislocation and…

EYES OF LAURA MARS — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Giallo, Hollywood, Horror, LGBTQ, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!, THREE STARS, Women's Cinema

August 4, 2024

“Eyes of Laura Mars” is a classic Hollywood movie, and a great guilty pleasure. This movie could just be your…

THE TROUT

Capsules Blog, French Cinema, LGBTQ, THREE STARS, Transgressive Cinema, Video Essay, Women's Cinema

August 3, 2024

Welcome! Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does. This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.…

HITMAN

Agitprop, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Comedy, Crime Procedural, Erotic, FIVE STARS, True Crime

July 28, 2024

While it may not be a perfect movie, “Hitman” is a perfectly nuanced satire. “Hitman” comes at right time. Cole…

BURDEN OF DREAMS — 4K RESTORATION

Capsules Blog, Documentary, FIVE STARS, New German Cinema

July 21, 2024

If the metaphor of pulling a steam ship over a mountain sounds like a Sisyphean effort, you are in the…

FEUD: CAPOTE VS. THE SWANS

Biopic, Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, LGBTQ, Literary Adaptation, sex, , Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema

July 7, 2024

Mired in the cruelty of its real-life characters, the series starts off bumpy. If you can make it past the…

THE OLD OAK — CANNES 2023

Agitprop, British Cinema, Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, FIVE STARS, Politics, , Women's Cinema

July 1, 2024

Welcome! Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does. This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.…

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE — CANNES 2000

Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, Chinese Cinema, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, FIVE STARS, Romantic Fantasy, War, Women's Cinema

July 1, 2024

Wong Kar Wai’s masterpiece of romantic longing, emotional expression, and unrequited love, is a cinematic poem that stretches across time…

PRIDE

Agitprop, Biopic, British Cinema, Capsules Blog, LGBTQ, Political History, sex, TWO STARS, Women's Cinema

June 27, 2024

All attempts fail at forcing a by-the-numbers narrative template on a fact-based story about unlikely bedfellows uniting against Prime Minister…

KINDS OF KINDNESS — CANNES 2024

Art Film, BDSM, Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, Dance, Experimental, Greek Cinema, sex, Sexploitation, , ZERO STARS

June 20, 2024

Since going mainstream with the shockingly delightful “Poor Things,” the heir-apparent to such Cinema heavyweights as Michael Haneke, Peter Greenaway,…

WORKING GIRLS — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Agitprop, BDSM, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Corporate Corruption, Criterion Collection, Current Affairs, Erotic, Feminist Cinema, FIVE STARS, Independent Cinema, Lesbian Cinema, LGBTQ, Neo-Realism, Political Satire, Politics, Porn, Punk, Queer Cinema, sex, Sexploitation, , Transgressive Cinema, Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema

June 16, 2024

Lizzie Borden’s third film, behind “Regrouping” (1979) and “Born In Flames” (1983), is a perfect chamber-piece of neo-realist social satire.…

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Comedy, Coming-of-Age, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Midnight Movies, Music, Punk, Rock 'n' Roll, sex, Women's Cinema

June 9, 2024

That the Punk band from NYC were soaking up California rays while making the movie, only adds to the fun…

ANATOMY OF A FALL — CANNES 2023

Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, Courtroom Drama, FIVE STARS, French Cinema, Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema

March 22, 2024

Welcome! Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does. This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.…

AMERICAN FICTION

Academy Awards, African American Cinema, Capsules Blog, FIVE STARS, LGBTQ, Literary Adaptation

March 10, 2024

2023 stands as perhaps the best year for satire. “American Fiction” puts a fine point on that fact with a…

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

Academy Awards, Capsules Blog, ONE STAR, True Crime, Western, Women's Cinema

March 10, 2024

An unrelenting parade of murder, greed, misery, and menace, “Killers of the Flower Moon”commits the unforgivable sin not giving its…

THE HOLDOVERS

Academy Awards, Capsules Blog, FIVE STARS, Satire

March 10, 2024

Alexander Payne sets up a ’60s era social satire that tips its hat to “The Graduate” in style, and tone.…

POOR THINGS

Academy Awards, Capsules Blog, Erotic, FIVE STARS, Greek Cinema, LGBTQ, Literary Adaptation, Magical Realism, sex, Sexploitation, Women's Cinema

March 10, 2024

When I met Yorgos Lanthimos at the Fox Searchlight party for his film “The Favourite,” I told him that I…

OPPENHEIMER

Academy Awards, Biopic, Capsules Blog, Historical Drama, Propaganda, sex, TWO STARS, War, War Fantasy

March 10, 2024

Cillian Murphy gives an incomparable virtuosic portrayal of the man responsible for creating the Atom Bomb. Murphy’s fierce performance is…

SLATBURN

Black Comedy, British Cinema, Capsules Blog, Erotic, FIVE STARS, LGBTQ, sex, Sexploitation, , Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema

March 10, 2024

Writer/director Emerald Fennell helps usher in 2023 as the year that Cinema came back to life, with a transgressive black…

ASTEROID CITY

Art Film, Capsules Blog, Children's Cinema, Satire, ZERO STARS

January 13, 2024

How far the mediocre have fallen. “Asteroid City” is a fine thing to project on the wall of your next…

EYES OF LAURA MARS — SHOCKTOBER!

THE TROUT

HITMAN

BURDEN OF DREAMS — 4K RESTORATION

PRIDE

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL

ANATOMY OF A FALL — CANNES 2023

AMERICAN FICTION

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

POOR THINGS

OPPENHEIMER

ASTEROID CITY

FEATURED VIDEO

COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA

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