film reviews

Kyle’s Criterion Corner: Meantime (1983)

Kyle’s Criterion Corner: Meantime (1983)

As political as it’s a social statement, writer and director Mike Leigh’s (Secrets and Lies, Happy-Go-Lucky) 1983 tragicomedy, Meantime, centers on the downtrodden poverty stricken Pollock family, amid the jobless working-class placed in the grim societal backdrop of...

Kyle’s Criterion Corner: L’argent (1983)

Kyle’s Criterion Corner: L’argent (1983)

They say money is the root to all evil right? Renowned French director Robert Bresson may agree to that. Loosely based on Leo Tolstoy’s novella The Forged Coupon, his final film L’argent (money) follows the downfall of a young-ish fuel truck driver, Yvon Targe...

Kyle’s Criterion Corner: Ugetsu (1953)

Kyle’s Criterion Corner: Ugetsu (1953)

Few films are as highly regarded or as revered in Japanese cinema as Kenji Mizoguchi’s haunting, fantasy fable “Ugetsu”; a timeless masterpiece of post-war cinema that not only works as a fatalistic fable but also a critique of class and patriarchy told through a...

‘Rough Night’: But It Could Have Been Worse

‘Rough Night’: But It Could Have Been Worse

I should preface this review by saying I’m unnecessarily harsh in critiquing comedies. I just expect all movies I see to have a decent plot, a conclusive ending, and some form of character development, but I think for most comedies I really just need to ask myself,...