Abraham Lincoln: Vampire hunter (2012)

Film 101: What looks like a brilliant idea on paper may not yield a good script or even an entertaining flick.

Yes, Abe Lincoln is a vampire hunter in this outrageous 'hidden history' biopic. No, it seems the writers' worldbuilding had a failure of imagination (or courage).

You get what's on the box: scene after scene of Abe killing vampires. And sadly, that turns out to be very forgettable and slight.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 4 July 2012.

Stricken (Komt een vrouw bij de dokter) (2009)

A couple in a Lubitschean marriage find their arrangement unworkable when the Missus has a Terminal Illness and the hubby continues his womanising.

It's a virtuous woman dying melodrama with a huge curveball. You're treated to multiple interpretations of her arrangement with the husband and the buffet of possibilities make for delicious viewing.

The fun and creative storytelling ends when it collapses down to one possibility by the time the lady expires.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 4 July 2012.

How I spent my summer vacation (Get the Gringo) (2012)

Mel Gibson goes back to the basics in a prison break movie.

Our protag is a wiley career criminal who's managed to keep a clean record for decades. He's in a Mexican jail that's literally run by its inmates. Watch him scheme to get out of jail, save an orphan and a widow, and get precious revenge all at once.

Watch for: well-written carnage and mayhem, crude wit, and double crosses that could belong in 1950s noir. I recommend a download on Netflix.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 20 June 2012.

Snowfall in Taipei (台北飘雪) (2009)

Imagine if Wim Wenders went to Taiwan and made an indie.

A celebrity with career jitters disappears on her talent agency and settles incognito in a town in the middle of nowhere.

The film plays like a Wim Wenders story but told with the typical slightness of Taiwanese popular drama. The concept is an interesting enough reason to watch this.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 20 June 2012.

The Moth Diaries (2011)

Moody, atmospheric, and menacing, The Moth Diaries goes back to the basics of vampire fiction.

Really far back to the triple threats of lesbian sex, blood, death in Camilla.

So it's fitting that our protagonist and heroine is a student in a boarding school whose place as queen bee is slowly taken over by a sexy, charismatic, maybe lesbian, maybe vampire...

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 20 June 2013.