Day: March 28, 2017

REVIEW: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [1974]

Jared Mobarak

“If I have anymore fun today, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to take it” Depending on your source, the budget for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ballooned from $60,000 to as much as $300,000 by its completion. Some shady dealings allowed profit shares to be sold with intentionally misleading percentages, production ran a crazy schedule spanning seven-day work weeks consisting of long hours to cut equipment rental costs, and a lawsuit over profits sprang up almost immediately after it debuted. Writer/director Tobe Hooper also hoped to earn a…

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REVIEW: Personal Shopper [2016]

Jared Mobarak

“I just need to see it to the end, that’s all” At the heart of Olivier Assayas‘ Personal Shopper is an idea of fear. This isn’t surprising considering it’s a genre ghost story, but its target is. Lead character Maureen Cartwright (Kristen Stewart) isn’t afraid of ghosts, spirits, or the supernatural because she’s a medium like her recently deceased twin brother Lewis. And even though she doesn’t quite believe their abilities prove what he did—the afterlife’s existence—she trusts and respects him enough to make good on the oath they struck…

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