“The ABCs of Death” is a bad movie – and some may find that endearing. An ambitious anthology that culls 26 short films from 26 international directors, “The ABCs of Death” is exactly what its title implies: juvenility posed against morbidity. As with most anthology films, there are gems and there are clunkers; for this […]
Author Archives: Tony Huang
“Beyond the Hills” plays with genres
Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or-winning second feature, “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” an intimate drama of two friends forced to seek extralegal abortion under Communist rule, played better as a thriller than a message movie. The same curious quality informs Mungiu’s follow-up, “Beyond the Hills,” a gripping depiction of a remote Romanian monastery that similarly falls short of making a statement.
Album Review: ‘Cerulean Salt’ by Waxahatchee
Punk rock is dead, punk rock is dying, punk rock died surviving. In a year when the genre threatens to crash at full throttle back into the mainstream (or at least pseudo-mainstream), from the anguished roar of Pissed Jeans to the wheezing desperation of Iceage, the quieter anguish of Waxahatchee’s “Cerulean Salt” could easily be […]
Album review: ‘Push the Sky Away’ by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave never pretended to be nice. Putting aside the noisy side project, Grinderman, his “quiet” albums always aimed to disquiet, his singer-songwriter affectations merely a sneaky way to disturb and perturb.
Album review: ‘II’ by Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s self-titled first album recalled the deceptively pleasant pop of what had seemed a lost music: melodic guitar phrasing, Lennon-tinged vocals, a haze of noise and above all, insanely catchy tunes (see “Ffunny Ffriends”). But with its second album, the aptly-titled “II,” it’s almost impossible not to get a “White Album” vibe: The […]
Oscar Short Film nominations feature strong contenders
The Oscar prediction game usually comes down to the Short films – many a perfect score has been ruined by guessing winners via the less-than-foolproof method of whoever’s name sounds most award-worthy.
Movie Review: “Tabu”
By most technical standards, Miguel Gomes’ “Tabu” is a film out of time. It’s shot in gauzy black and white, it’s framed in boxy Academy ratio, and the latter half of the film, titled “Paradise” and without dialogue, is devoted to a love story set in Portuguese-colonized Africa. At once charming and puzzling, the film’s […]