At The Movies With Clarence And Alabama: True Romance Turns 25 Rory Steabler September 10, 2018 Close-Up, Features, Nostalgia True Romance turns 25 today. A quarter-century after that love letter to sex, violence, and Elvis Presley hit screens (and bombed), we have to ask ourselves: we’re all pretty much over Quentin Tarantino,...
The ORWAV Mission: Impossible Stunt Spectacular! Rory Steabler July 24, 2018 Analysis, Features, Top 10 The Mission: Impossible movies have developed a reputation, over the course of the last few sequels, for spectacular exploits and derring-do on the part of star Tom Cruise. As superspy Ethan Hunt, Cruise has...
Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts – Review Rory Steabler April 15, 2018 Reviews Despite containing elements of both, Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts is not quite a Western or a revenge flick. Where those genres indulge in violence for a bit of schlocky fun, Marlina is a lot more...
Stories From The Set: A Fistful Of Dollars Rory Steabler April 10, 2018 Behind The Curtain, Features, Stories from the Set Being long-time fans of Sergio Leone's work, and with a new remaster hitting cinemas, we at ORWAV thought it would be timely to look at how the director made A Fistful of Dollars. His first Western is widely...
Scene Stealers: Charlie Day in Pacific Rim Rory Steabler March 21, 2018 Analysis, Features, Scene Stealers The first thing to come to mind when someone mentions Pacific Rim – and now its sequel, out this Friday – is bombastic cartoon violence between kaiju monsters and giant mecha, writ large in 3D-IMAX glory....
Short of the Week – Terminally Happy Rory Steabler March 5, 2018 Features, Independent, Short of the Week https://vimeo.com/255663937 Newly released on Vimeo, Terminally Happy is an unsettling science-fiction short from writer-director Adina Istrate. The premise seems mundane at first: Louis (Alastair...
“I Never Did This”: The Unreliable Narrator from Rashomon to I, Tonya Rory Steabler February 20, 2018 Analysis, Features, Top 10 There’s no such thing as truth! Everyone has their own truth. So claims Margot Robbie’s Tonya Harding – somewhat dubiously – over the trailer for I, Tonya. The film adapts the true story of...
Cel Mates: The Book of Life Rory Steabler January 18, 2018 CEL Mates, Features, Independent The Book of Life bears more than a passing resemblance to Pixar’s Coco, out this week. Obviously, both are based around the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead, and involve protagonists going on a...
Checking in on the Modern Western Rory Steabler January 4, 2018 Analysis, Features, One Off Almost a decade ago, the 2008 Academy Awards saw an influx of Westerns. No Country for Old Men took the Best Picture statuette (among others), while nominations for sound and cinematography were dished out to...
The Prestige Is More Than Just Two Great Twists Rory Steabler December 26, 2017 Features, Love Letter, Nostalgia The title of The Greatest Showman, out this week, refers to the 19th-century circus entrepreneur P.T. Barnum, though it could just as well refer to the movie’s star. Hugh Jackman has proved again and again...
Short of the Week – Florence Has Left the Building Rory Steabler December 25, 2017 Features, Independent, Short of the Week https://vimeo.com/247645868 Merry Christmas! Why not celebrate the festive season with the residents of Marigold House Assisted Living Facility as they enjoy their annual Elvis concert? Why not...
The Brothers Bloom – The Art of Good Exposition Rory Steabler December 12, 2017 Analysis, Close-Up, Features Spoiler Warning: The Brothers Bloom is best watched with little foreknowledge. This article explicitly discusses the ending. The Last Jedi should provide Rian Johnson with an interesting balancing act. The...
Scene Stealers: Will Arnett in The LEGO Movie Rory Steabler October 10, 2017 Analysis, Features, Scene Stealers With The LEGO Ninjago Movie opening in the UK this weekend, it looks like the LEGO film franchise is building fast. Ninjago is the second spinoff this year, and two more entries are expected in 2019: The LEGO...
The Ornithologist – Review Rory Steabler October 6, 2017 Reviews The Ornithologist feels something like the slow cinema of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, until director João Pedro Rodrigues folds in a survival-thriller plot, an encounter with Jesus, and a dizzying display of...