Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Picture : A long way from New York, producer-host Edna ( Chloë Sevigny ) greets a horse in a scene from Spanish-Argentinian director, Amalia Ulman 's comedy, ' Magic Farm '. Still courtesy of Mubi/The Match Factory . Magic Farm , Argentina-Spanish writer-director Amalia Ulman’s follow up to her 2021 feature debut, El Planeta , is the sort of film that looks like it was made when the director’s original planned project set in her home country fell through. She has assembled a name American cast (Chloë Sevigny, Alex Wolff, Simon Rex, Joe Apollonio) and gives them precious little to do. They bicker, panic, embrace, have toilet difficulties or rush to catch the next flight back to New York over the course of a flimsy lightweight empty empanada of a movie. Yet there is pleasure to be had watching this consolation prize, contractual obligation. It clears the moviegoing palate like a sorbet, making you ready to taste something new and exciting. For his second completed feature, ...

  Pictured : Tech billionaire Slater King ( Channing Tatum ) admires his guest Frida ( Naomi Ackie ) in a scene from the luxury island thriller, ' Blink Twice ', co-written and directed by  Zoë Kravitz . Still courtesy of MGM-Amazon Studios (US) / Warner Bros. (UK) What is the deal with a private island? Does someone even have the right to sell an entire landmass? How much of the surrounding ocean count as the owner’s waters, for fishing and such? Don’t they have an obligation to provide basic services, not just for guests but their staff as well? These were some of the questions that occurred to me after watching Blink Twice , an American takedown of toxic masculinity written (with E.T. Feigenbaum) and directed by actress-turned-director Zoë Kravitz. However, these are not the questions that interest her. Kravitz focusses on one: how can men get away with abusing women? She looks at what gives them licence, the enablers. Wealth is one. Bullied women living their worst life...