In Japan, to minimise confusion, during TV screenings of the film, a reference was shown in the top left corner of the screen indicating which dream level the action was occurring on.
Jane Campion
“Performers are so vulnerable. They’re frightened of humiliation, sure their work will be crap. I try to make an environment where it’s warm, where it’s OK to fail — a kind of home, I suppose.”
Tyler Perry
They didn’t open the door. I had to cut a hole in the window to get in. You close the door on me and tell me I can’t, I’m gonna find a way to get in.
The Last Route
Logline: A mysterious man and a group of passengers board an underground train on its last trip of the night, which will prove to be nightmarish.
Genre: Horror, Short
Richard Linklater
“There are a million ideas in a world of stories. Humans are storytelling animals. Everything’s a story, everyone’s got stories, we’re perceiving stories, we’re interested in stories. So to me, the big nut to crack is to how to tell a story, what’s the right way to tell a particular story.”
Sinners (2025)
In 1930s Mississippi, twin brothers return to their hometown, leaving their troubled past behind, but an unprecedented evil eagerly awaits the sunset.
A feast for the eyes, the ears and the soul. A lot has been said about Sinners, but there is something more that I would like to add. The standout elements are the immaculate writing and directing (Ryan Coogler), film score (Ludwig Göransson), photography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw), editing (Michael P. Shawver), and production design (Hannah Beachler). The list extends to the outstanding work of every other department that contributed to this film, as well as the exceptional acting of Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Yao, Li Jun Li, Delroy Lindo, Saul Williams, and the rest of the cast.
The combination of blues, Irish folk, and visuals that elevate the soul offers that aforementioned feast for the senses. While the horror and music genres have intersected in films such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Lure (2015): https://kaygazpro.com/the-lure-2015-drama-fantasy-horror/, Coogler’s approach offers a fresh perspective. It is visceral, dramatic, humorous, and carries a lot of history on its back. It’s an excellent combination, and all the cast and crew deserve all the praise in the world. And, yes, the anachronistic sequence that smashes through the fabric of time and space is the epitome of satisfaction of the senses. As said above, though, there is something I’d like to add.
I conducted a small survey of my own and asked fifty people about the film’s message, examining racial representation and its connection to character and story development. Not surprisingly, the answers were contradictory and vague. While the story and character development were clear enough, their relationship to racial representation created the ultimate confusion. The reason I did it is that this film was made with so much effort and love by people from all over the world, yet its message is divisive. Something that begs the question: Why?
Regardless, it is a highly recommended cinematic experience that offers a lot more than escapism.
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
A Touch of Zen (1971)
An entire village was constructed for the film and then left for 9 months to acquire natural wear and tear.
Warfare (2025)
The true story of a Navy SEAL platoon that got hit in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2006.
The closest thing you’ve been to a war from the comfort of your own cinema. Steven Spielberg’s D-Day sequence in Saving Private Ryan (1998) shook us to our core when it was first released, and to this day, nothing has topped it. Warfare comes really close and sends shivers down your spine.
Following the success of Civil War (2024), A24 and writer/director Alex Garland, along with writer/director and Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza, create a war film like anything you’ve ever seen. They consult experts and actual veterans, incorporating real tactics and language to enhance the film’s realism. Not only that, but Mendoza was one of those veterans. The film’s promotion is: “Everything is based on memory.”
This is inarguably one of the most brutally realistic docudramas you’ve ever seen in your life. It’s going to make you avert your eyes. It’s going to take your breath away. It’s going to make you wish they would stop screaming… The slow-burning first half hour is the calm before the storm that you will audiovisually experience after that in real time. You will see, hear, and feel their excruciating pain and agony. D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Joseph Quinn, Aaron Mackenzie, Alex Brockdorff, Finn Bennett, Evan Holtzman, Michael Gandolfini, and the rest of the cast do a magnificent job in front of the camera. Extra credit goes to the rest of the preproduction, production, and postproduction team for accomplishing this film.
A24 consistently pushes boundaries to the extreme and is one of the world’s most valuable film-producing machines. They have the know-how. They know when, where, why and how to choose what they do. They also know who must helm each project and who will be in front of the camera. They know the trends and rules, and they bend them in extraordinary ways. Warfare is a prime example. Past the end credits, it will make you think about how they will top that and what comes next, but stay tuned. There is a lot more coming…
Please, don’t forget to share, and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
John Patrick Shanley
“If you put someone in a room with no script to direct, they’re just going to sit there. Writing scripts is the execution for a show. Then the director takes that and hires people. It’s like trying to build a house without any bricks. You need a great script.”
Amélie (2001)
While shooting outdoors, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and the crew cleaned everything – from trash to graffiti – to maintain the fantasy atmosphere of the film.
The Rocket (2019)
None of the actors are professional. They all use their real names, and almost every scene is a reenactment of real-life events.
Simon Beaufoy
“I’m very lucky. I actually like screenwriting. I rarely feel a sense of doom going to my desk.”
Hollywood vs. The System: Art, Power, or Smokescreen?
Hollywood loves to tell stories about fighting the system – The Insider (1999), Spotlight (2015), Dark Waters (2019), and more. But isn’t Hollywood itself a Goliath with its own secrets? Is it a beacon of justice, part of the system, or a smokescreen for its own flaws?
Wolf Man (2025)
A man takes his family to the farmhouse he grew up in, but an unexpected attack by a beast starts turning him into a beast himself.
Atmospheric but also problematic. There are pros and cons, but the cons pile up higher. The photography is amazing – haunting, eerie, dark, and imposing. Expressing both worlds visually wasn’t easy, but Stefan Duscio’s cinematography did a brilliant job connecting them. The sound department also deserves much credit for completing that connection with sound effects and reverse utterances that will captivate you. The result wouldn’t be complete, though, if Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner’s performances were not solid. They do an excellent job in front of the camera, so all departments deliver the desired audiovisual outcome. What’s the problem then, yeah?
Well, it isn’t Leigh Whannell’s directing. Most sequences are intriguing… but that is not enough because as a whole they are not as effective. The problem lies in his and Corbett Tuck’s writing (his wife). Everything happens too fast for the audience to absorb. The transformation, escalation and climax blend into one, leaving the viewer somewhat indifferent. Furthermore, despite some innovative details, as a story, it has nothing new to offer. It pays a solid tribute to The Wolf Man (1941), but not all cinematic intentions come to life as they were supposed to. The sum should always be more impactful than its parts, and, in this case, Wolf Man isn’t.
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
The Invitation
Logline: A young man recovering from a loss is invited for dinner by his boss and his wife during Halloween, but the night takes an inexplicable turn.
Genre: Thriller, Short
Confessions (2010)
The first Tetsuya Nakashima film that is not a comedy – and it was a box office hit!
Olivia Colman
“If the script’s good, everything you need is in there. I just try and feel it, and do it honestly.”
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Watch McManus’ (Stephen Baldwin) reaction when Redfoot throws the cigarette in his face. According to the script, it was supposed to be thrown at his chest. Baldwin’s shock is genuine, and the shot was included in the film’s final cut.
The Woman in the Yard (2025)
A mysterious woman appears out of nowhere, sits in a broken family’s yard and delivers cryptic and threatening messages.
Starts off great and then rapidly deteriorates. Second collaboration between director Jaume Collet-Serra and Danielle Deadwyler after Carry-On (2024): https://kaygazpro.com/carry-on-2024/ – a totally different film. So, what’s to be expected here?
From a filmmaking perspective, Pawel Pogorzelski’s cinematography is brilliant—camera angles, framing, lighting—all of it! Deadwyler (Ramona), Okwui Okpokwasili (Woman), and the kids perform brilliantly. The sound design and the editing serve the narrative the way they are supposed to. That leaves us with Sam Stefanak’s script and Collet-Serra’s visualisation.
The story is solid. A mysterious woman appears out of nowhere and delivers cryptic messages. Who is she? What does she want? What is the family’s secret? All that unfolded quite well until they decided to disclose the answers. The way it was decided to provide those answers killed the mystery as much as it killed the horror. And then, it resurrected it and brought it back as the epitome of incoherence. While there is an explanation, standard Hollywood narrative dictates confusion before oversimplification with the sole purpose of the “WOW” effect. That also killed the drama, by the way.
There is nothing good to say past the first act, so I’ll leave it here. Jason Blum keeps producing films that make zero sense, and their rationalisation is borderline dangerous. Where they are getting at follows a similar mentality with The Beast Within (2024): https://kaygazpro.com/the-beast-within-2024/. The filmmakers imply one thing, but connect it to another. And that “another” is significantly scarier and far more concerning, and shouldn’t have been connecting to the “one.” See for yourselves if you want to waste your time.
Thank you for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share, and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
There Will Be Blood (2007)
When the producers approached Dillon Freasier’s mother, the kid playing Daniel Plainview’s son (Daniel Day-Lewis), to appear in the film, she wanted to know who this… Daniel Day-Lewis was. When the production showed her Gangs of New York (2002), she was scared by his performance and refused. To change her mind, they showed her The Age of Innocence (1993).
We Live in Time (2024)
A car accident brings together two people who fall in love, and despite numerous tribulations, they try to make it work.
A24 strikes with a heavy drama. Non-linear narratives become more and more common. Sometimes they work, sometimes not. It all depends on whether the narrative demands it or if it is all a pretentious attempt by the filmmakers to impress you. Which one is We Live in Time, then?
Writer Nick Payne and director John Crowley have no intention to pretend. They aim to torture you psychologically. From the opening sequence, Bryce Dessner’s piano warns you that something hurtful will occur. Something that will break the heroes’ hearts almost as much as it will break yours. And soon you find out. From then on, all the back and forth, tackle life’s bittersweet moments, but knowing what will happen makes it only bitter, sour, and borderline unbearable.
Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh nail their parts, offering the realism that Payne and Crowley intended. And while I said earlier that they removed the “sweet”, I may have lied. There is always something sweet, and tons of worth-living moments in life defy the gloom and doom of this world. After all, every cloud has a silver lining.
This is where I leave it. There is no reason to delve into effective cinematic techniques that make it work. All you need to know is that it does work, and you will feel it when you catch yourself short of breath. Again and again.
Thanks for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
Anora (2024)
A young stripper impulsively marries the son of a Russian Oligarch, and when his family finds out, an odyssey to get the marriage annulled begins.
Great film with unprecedented hype. I was waiting for the Oscars to write about it, and, unfortunately, I was right. NEON knows what they want from their films. It is a solid American production and distribution company, and, like A24, its films break the rules occasionally. Anora is a pleasant and entertaining watch with some performances that stand out, as well as some editing and photography techniques. Writer, director, casting director, editor, and producer Sean Baker deserves much praise for his work, as he put his heart and soul into it to make everything work. Mikey Madison deserves all the praise under the sun as she too worked really, really hard for her role.
The marketing, though, is what made the film famous. To get 150 wins and 272 nominations, of which five Oscars are not something one sees every day in the film industry. Especially when you have to compete against giants, both in terms of budget and talent. Here is a representative example: Yura Borisov’s character, Igor, is a dark horse and very much relatable to humble people who have skills but rub them in your face. Borisov does a brilliant job portraying that character, but the performance is not even near the level of performances that have competed against the statuette over the decades.
Anora‘s reputation surpassed The Green Book‘s (2018) for the worst film we’ve seen at the Oscars recently, making people lose even more faith in the Academy. Statements by members of the Academy who claimed that they don’t watch whole films when they are over two hours long just made things worse.
Anora is not to be blamed, though. If you had heard nothing about it and sat down to watch it, you would thoroughly enjoy it. Now that you have heard so much and raised your expectations to the extreme, it will not be the same. Politics, by now, is deeply rooted in the arts, and rightfully, people despise what Hollywood has become—a dishevelled existence of a glorious past.
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
American Pastoral (2016)
An idolised couple’s perfect life falls apart when their daughter is accused of a terrorist act.
Great story but holds its punches. Directorial debut for Ewan McGregor, who admittedly does a decent job behind and in front of the camera. As stated already, though, he holds back immensely and Philip Roth and John Romano’s script does not help much. The turmoil of the 60s had a tremendous effect on America. It was violent, bloody and the aftereffect of racism and oppression. Unfortunately, the film fails to capture that. It focuses on the relationship between a seemingly perfect couple and their troubled daughter, which relates to the turmoil. Or, does it?
The unconditional love of the father who once had it all and now loses the Earth under his feet is the film’s anchor, and McGregor captures that quite well. The audience despises Merry (Dakota Fanning) and sides with the father, who could not possibly have done more. Furthermore, Jennifer Connelly nails the role of the mother who also once had it all and slowly and painfully loses her sanity. My personal issue with this troubled relationship was the reason behind Merry’s mental state. I could not understand why she kept accusing her parents and why she ended up the way she did. Was it the turmoil that affected her or her parents? Having said that, the ending is very much debatable, too.
To summarise, the focus is clear, but why certain people are the way they are and why things evolve the way they do is unclear. Regardless, American Pastoral deserves a watch as it will transport you to a time that unfortunately shares many negative similarities to today, but will remind you that our parents’ unconditional love is diachronic and will never faint.
Thanks for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
Tim Bevan
“Scripts are what matter. If you get the foundations right and then you get the right ingredients on top, you stand a shot… but if you get those foundations wrong, then you absolutely don’t stand a shot. It’s very rare – almost never – that a good film gets made from a bad screenplay.”
Braveheart (1995)
Mel Gibson thought he was too old for the role of William Wallace and initially refused it. However, Paramount told him that without him, they wouldn’t have funding, so… he accepted!
The Oscars Art or Politics
The Oscars: A celebration of cinematic art – or a stage for politics and status? From its origins to its controversies, let’s explore what the Academy Awards represent and the debates they continue to spark.
Humane (2024)
A family gathers to discuss personal affairs while the environment collapses and the governments impose inhumane measures.
It cuts right to the chase but holds its punches. Humane tackles the environmental and human crisis we currently experience. In this dystopian future, mankind has managed to damage planet Earth irreparably and now faces the consequences. Netflix produced a similar one to a very dissimilar way. Nowhere (2023): https://kaygazpro.com/nowhere-2023/ focuses on one woman’s effort to survive these austerity measures, whereas Humane focuses on the way the family members fight one another and the government that never took measures to prevent this from happening but make the people pay for it – rings a bell?
Director Caitlin Cronenberg makes a decent effort to distance herself from her brother Brandon and her father David, who have significantly different cinematic styles. Her approach is not the problem. Arguably, it is Michael Sparaga’s script that is weak and undecided about what message it wants to convey – something that obviously affects all three acts.
Just a few examples: The first dinner sequence was not daring. There are cinematic family fights out there that keep you pinned on your seats. This was very… conservative. Admittedly, the second fight was much better. Then, the first plot point and how Cronenberg shows it will get your attention. I guess what they say is true. You only show your true colours when you’re with your back against the wall. So, there are strong moments and weak moments in the film. Overall, though, it is not as impactful as it could have been, despite the great cast.
It is my understanding that more films and/or series will come out addressing the way we treat this world and one another, the way we see governments, and the whole notion of “system.” We are ruining ourselves and this world, so making a film that accurately depicts that will be a Herculean task. Let’s stop the self-destruction regardless of the accuracy of the films we make.
Thanks for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
James Cameron
“Pick up a camera. Shoot something. No matter how small, no matter how cheesy, no matter whether your friends and your sister star in it. Put your name on it as director. Now you’re a director. Everything after that, you’re just negotiating your budget and your fee.”
The Four Stairs (1951)
Unheard of at the time and for the first time in the history of Greek cinema, a woman wears a suit and pretends to be a man.
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
When Bruno attempts to cross the street, two cars almost run him over. The scene and the reactions are entirely genuine as… two cars really did nearly run him over.
One Way Ticket
Logline: Burdened by his past, a man sneaks into a Christian group’s coach, which gets hijacked and leads to an ancient cult’s sacrificial ground.
Genre: Horror, Short
Cinema and Cultural Appropriation Whose Story Is It
Cinema has the power to tell stories that connect us, but what happens when those stories misrepresent cultures or aren’t told by the people who lived them? Let’s explore cultural appropriation in film – its impact, its controversies, and the steps toward authentic representation.
Alfred Hitchcock
“To make a great film you need three things – the script, the script, and the script.”
A City of Sadness (1989)
Tony Leung Chiu Wai’s character ended up mute and deaf because the actor couldn’t convincingly speak Taiwanese or Mandarin, and the film was shot with live sound.
The Gorge (2025)
Two snipers are tasked with spending a year on opposite sides of a gorge, making sure monstrous beings that dwell in it don’t escape.
Romantic, superficial and only a fragment of what it could have been. There is not much to say, really. And that speaks volumes about the film. Director Scott Derrickson, the man behind top-shelf horrors such as The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), Sinister (2012), Deliver Us From Evil (2014), and Black Phone (2021), accepted from Apple TV, a watered-down version of Silent Hill (2006) meets The Mist (2007) that is meant to appeal to Valentine’s Day couples. Why? I guess the money?
Here’s what you sign up for: a great story with a nonsensical and full of plot holes script. In Zach Dean’s script, you are watching snipers who have mastered sectors that have nothing to do with their speciality – for example, repairing automatic weapons, engineering mines, and operating a film projector of a past era that happened to have one reel in front of it that explains what happened to the place, etc.
I’d rather if I didn’t slag it off more. It just doesn’t make sense when it could have been the new Silent Hill. Shame. At least, it does one thing quite right: it doesn’t try to trick you or undermine your intelligence. The story is pretty straightforward and easily digestible, with entertaining action that will make you forget your problems for a couple of hours. Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy make a good onscreen couple, and Sigourney Weaver is amazing in whatever she does. Have low expectations, and you’ll enjoy it.
Thanks for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
V/H/S/Beyond (2024)
From aliens to robots to human experiments, V/H/S/ Beyond continues the franchise’s legacy with surrealism and obscenity.
Bloody, gory, funny and entertaining. Twelve years after the first one, V/H/S/ Beyond keeps it (un)real with a main story that holds the film together like a spine and random grotesque stories that break up the main story and spice it up with diversity. Zombies, robot stars, aliens, psychopathic taxidermists… make it up to two hours of your time that will make you forget your problems.
The execution, like every other found-footage horror, is a tad problematic as, more often than not, you don’t get what it is that you are seeing. While this is arguably intentional – for technical and artistic reasons – the result remains problematic. But here’s the trick: By sitting down to watch a film like V/H/S, you know what you are signing up for. Regardless, it can get tiring for the eyes.
V/H/S Beyond maintains the franchise’s initial quality and is made with love for all horror fans.
P.S. It’s funny how Justin Long wrote an episode for it, and, more specifically, the one that the film that it is based on was heavily criticised.
P.P.S. Good to see Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel abandoning (hopefully not momentarily) woke projects.
Thanks for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
Louis Malle
“If you have someone on set for the hair, why would you not have someone for the words?”
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck shed tears of joy on the first day of shooting after waiting five years to see the amazing Robin Williams and Stellan Skarsgård do justice to their script.
Gladiator II (2024)
After losing everything and everyone he loves, a gladiator fights for his life and, gradually, for a Rome that belongs to its people.
Epic, yet a convoluted narratological mess. Gladiator II is a film in which many things could have been said. An epic film that should require more analysis than a simple film review. Yet, this is not the case. The beautiful soundtrack and open credits serve their purpose and prepare you for the epicness that is about to follow. But without building up, Sir Ridley Scott cuts right to it. The first epic battle is impressive, and even though it could have been a lot more emotional due to the death of his beloved one, it isn’t.
From then on, the characters’ emotions constantly change without coherence; Jugurtha, the amazing Peter Mensah (also an exceptional martial artist), dies ridiculously and inexplicably immediately, and what you have until the very end is a script that makes minimum sense. The glorious and gory battles lose their meaning from the absolute lack of historicity to revelations that make zero sense to not producing any emotion whatsoever. The production design is immaculate, the visual and sound effects amazing, and the soundtrack is beautiful, but the plot and the dialogue are, unfortunately, disastrous.
It is a shame that so many positives are overshadowed by such a bad script. It really is. Twenty-four years after the original, one would expect that Scott and Paramount would have got it right. They really didn’t.
Thanks for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
Morality and the Antihero
Antiheroes – symbols of justice or rebels against a broken system? This episode explores their origins, appeal, and what they reveal about our society.
Gladiator (2000)
“Aren’t I compassionate?” Joaquin Phoenix shouts at Connie Nielsen unexpectedly, and her frightened reaction is genuine.
We Only Have One Life (1958)
Although of Greek origin, Yvonne Sanson was dubbed by Theano Ioannidou because her Greek wasn’t very good.
Caddo Lake (2024)
An 8-year-old girl’s disappearance starts linking to past deaths and missing people, revealing things no one could imagine.
Mind-bending, jaw-dropping, and hair-raising. Caddo Lake will knock you out of the park! What starts as a mysterious disappearance that ostensibly leads to kidnapping ends up as a beyond-understanding reality that no one could have ever possibly known. Logan George and Celine Held wrote and directed this brilliant film that lingers way after the end credits stop scrolling down. The film’s pace and rhythm are perfect, and the way the events connect shows how much effort they put in the cutting room to stitch them all up (especially George) and present this coherent result. And making it look and sound coherent with such a script is a Herculean task. Probably one of the very few occasions where the director is also the editor, and the result is astonishing.
This is a spoiler-free review, so I can’t make comparisons with the series that knocked our socks out a few years ago. But you’ll get it when you watch it and see how George and Held succeeded in doing the same in a less-than-two-hour film. What you want to happen, what will happen, and when you want it to happen and when it will happen will skyrocket the suspense to the extreme. Of course, the story’s believability would not be possible if the actors didn’t do their part. Dylan O’Brien, Eliza Scanlen, Lauren Ambrose, Sam Hennings, Dianna Hopper, and Eric Lange believe in their vision and react to specific stimuli in a way that probably you and I would, something that increases the realism behind the paranoia.
George and Held directed episodes of the also M. Night Shyamalan-produced Servant (2019 – 2023), an extremely well-made series – and Ambrose was the lead. They have also directed episodes of Dark Matter (2024). What I want to say is that they are both accustomed to the mysterious element, the fringe, and the dark, and their work keeps getting better and better. I, for one, can’t wait for their next film.
P.S. Speaking of duos who do great, let’s hope filmmaking duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead do something extraordinary soon.
Thanks for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
Companion (2025)
What was meant to be a relaxing weekend at a billionaire’s lakeside house turns into a nightmare for a group of friends full of secrets.
Thoroughly enjoyable, with a lot of food for thought. Marrying comedy and horror has never been easy for either the writer, director, or editor. As if making an audience laugh or scaring them is not hard enough, how much you’ll make them laugh, how much you’ll scare them and how you’ll combine these two extremes back to back is beyond understanding. This is what writer/director Drew Hancock has managed to achieve, though: to scare you and then make you laugh and the opposite — sequence after sequence after sequence. Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén, Rupert Friend, and Marc Menchaca (special guest) share Hancock’s dream and deliver funny performances while going berserk when needed.
The producers behind Barbarian (2022): https://kaygazpro.com/barbarian-2022-horror-thriller/ and Hancock create a horror/comedy that fits perfectly into today’s society. In a kinda woke manner (Barbarian was kinda woke, too), it satirises women’s position in the US during the 50s and 60s (check Iris’ outfit and hairstyle), patriarchy and whatever is left of it today, our relationship with AI and the AI girlfriends/boyfriends, and the way today’s generation handles situations nowadays. The result pays off. Think of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and the human hybris in a modern and satiric version. If you are looking for a less satirical and more philosophical way to examine the relationship between AI, robotics and society, watch Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (2014).
Thanks for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
Censorship in Film
Is censorship in film ever justified? From the Hays Code to modern-day digital platforms, the debate continues. What should be censored, why and by whom?
Rogue Agent (2022)
A conman who pretends to be an IM5 agent and ruins women’s lives encounters one who makes it her life’s purpose to bring him down.
Shocking, gripping, utterly “life stranger than fiction.” Directors Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson bring to your screen the true story of conman Robert Freegard (James Norton), who ultimately destroyed the lives of many women and some men, and the means it took for a woman, Alice Archer (Gemma Arterton), to put him behind bars. It is an extraordinary story, given in a compelling way. Norton and Arterton make a great on-screen couple, and then rivals and the pace and rhythm of the film are perfectly balanced.
The drama, the thrill, the suspense, and the agony will keep you on the edge of your seats, constantly wanting Archer to bring him down. But it won’t be easy, and it won’t be pleasant. For almost two hours, you will stay engaged and will root for Archer, watching Freegard find ways to get away and keep ruining lives. Upon watching the film, if you want to know what has happened to him, read about the Freegard case or watch Netflix’s true crime docuseries on him called The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman (2022).
Loneliness, mental illness, trauma and other personal and professional reasons can make us lose sight of reality, weaken us, ruin us, you name it. Unfortunately, psychopaths can take advantage of that and kick us or stomp us while we are down. If that ever happens, let’s hope our people are there to protect us or be the people to protect the ones in need.
Thanks for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
Salting the Battlefield (2014)
Having fled Turks & Caicos, Johnny Worricker returns to the UK to face MI5 and the Prime Minister and deal with the accusations against him.
A great denouement to a long and eventful journey. After Page Eight (2011): https://kaygazpro.com/page-eight-2011/ and Turks & Caicos (2014): https://kaygazpro.com/turks-caicos-2014/, Salting the Battlefield concludes Worricker’s journey, bringing back home, facing the consequences of his actions. Of course, it’s a double-edged sword, as the government also needs to face the consequences of its own decisions. Writer/director David Hare and Billy Nigh, Helena Bonham Carter, Rupert Graves, Saskia Reeves, Judy Davis, Ewen Bremner, Felicity Jones, and Ralph Fiennes return to action to deal with unfinished business and put an end to this odyssey that has spiralled out of control.
Salting the Battlefield turns into a manhunt. From numerous cities in Germany and back to London, Worricker (Nigh) and Margot (Carter) run from the government until they come up with a plan that will benefit them as much as it would benefit the “enemy.” As expected, that proves to be more challenging than it sounds – especially when different government departments have various agendas. Pay attention to the ending. Pay attention to how this whole case concluded and ask yourselves what you make out of it.
This is the third and last chapter of Worricker’s life, and I, for one, am glad I watched it back to back. British TV at its best!
Thanks for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!