Oh man, did I ever get this one wrong once upon eight years ago. Continue reading
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Review: Valhalla Rising, 2009, dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
It’s amazing what a second viewing of a film can do to alter one’s perception and reaction to it. A while back, in my review of Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn’s excellent Bronson, I mentioned my admiration for Valhalla Rising— his 2009 follow-up– in the body of the review itself as well as in discussions … Continue reading
Review: Drive, 2011, dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
Drive is cool; there’s no way around it. In point of fact I don’t know if there’s a better way to describe Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest film other than in terms of its inherent, blatant coolness, or more accurately a more appropriate way. “Cool” is what Drive embodies in every single detail, minute or otherwise; … Continue reading
Review: Bronson, 2008, dir. Nicholas Winding Refn
You’ve probably never heard of Charles Bronson– not the real Charles Bronson, but rather Michael Peterson, who adopted the name of the famous action icon on the advice of his fighting promoter as a way of inflating his own icon and bolstering his status as a man not to be trifled with. His story is … Continue reading
“‘Drive’s Endearing Buddy-Action Vibes Should’ve Made Mark Dacascos a Star”
This ain’t your father’s “Drive.” It ain’t Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive,” either. Continue reading
Review: Prince, 2015, dir. Sam de Jong
If you’ve seen the coming-of-age movies and crime flicks that influence Sam de Jong’s Prince, you can guess where it’s heading within its first 10 minutes. Teenage boys with too much free time and too many hormones, menacing older boys who haunt their inner city neighborhood, pulsing house scores, adolescent infatuation, misguided masculinity, material obsession, … Continue reading
Review: Rebels of the Neon God, 1992, dir. Tsai Ming-liang
“If Tsai Ming-liang hadn’t beaten Nicolas Winding Refn’s career to the punch by several years, Rebels of the Neon God would have been a killer moniker for one of the great Dane’s as-yet-unimagined future projects. Even in that alternate timeline, though, Tsai’s debut feature comes from such a culturally specific place that only he could … Continue reading
15 Films ACVF Is Excited About In 2012
In my book, 2011 has been a great year for movies. Good stuff has abounded throughout this particular revolution of the planet, both on the side of light lifting– Limitless, Paul, Cedar Rapids, Captain America— and in the realms of more substantial material, such as Drive, Weekend, The Tree of Life, and Win Win. Even … Continue reading
Premature Retrospection: My Favorite Films in 2011 (So Far)
I realize that in a few months time, I’ll be cobbling together a top ten list for 2011 as I’ve done for the past two years that A Constant Visual Feast has been up and running. But 2011 has been a good year cinematically, for me specifically and for film in general; I’ve seen more … Continue reading
Control, Violence, and Humanity in Drive
Drive— which I flat-out loved— marks the sort of film that oozes with stylishness but only as a means to an end. Nicolas Winding Refn’s neo-noir crime thriller brandishes a clear and unabashed devotion to aesthetic, design, and attitude which at a cursory glanced could be interpreted as the director’s emphasis on style over substance, … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 