Cinema - James Lanternman

In the Earth (2021): Nature Fights Back, Strangely

Pandemic-tinged hallucinogenic horror from Ben Wheatley, with interesting parts not quite formed into a substantial whole.

Film Review

Psycho II (1983): A Killer Sequel

Continuing the Norman Bates story, decades later and without Hitchcock, somehow works.

Film Review

Army of the Dead (2021): Kinda Zombie Movie

Without trying to sound dramatic, movies like Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead might pose something of an existential threat to cinema as we know it.

Cinema

Tremors (1990): Monster Movie Fun Perfection

An early 90s creature feature with a great cast and a fantastically wild plot. Imaginative, tense, scary fun.

Film Review

Mortal Kombat (2021): Cinema That Makes You Wish You Were Elsewhere

A franchise with a formula that stretches thin as a movie. Expect to be bored long before the credits roll.

Cinema

Dr. Strangelove and Artistic Clarity

Kubrick's statement on nuclear weapons uses dark comedy as a clarifier & lubricant to deliver a bleak warning while having fun.

Film Review

Promising Young Woman (2020): A Revenge Movie With Relevance & Originality

Taking cues from the rom-com, this is a modern rape-revenge movie set apart by its incisive script and excellent lead performance.

Buddhism

Life is Suffering, So Choose It

Four “noble truths” underpin Buddhist philosophy. The first has always struck me with the most force. It has a cutting quality. Strikes the bell of truth cleanly. “Life is suffering.” The idea is straightforward. Everything that lives, suffers—it’s simply the natural state of existence for all living things.

Film

Notes on Cinema

Some thoughts on the future of cinema.