Snow
SimilarApocalypse Now (1979), Batman Returns (1992), Ben-Hur (1959), Billy Elliot (2000), Brazil (1985), Contact (1997), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Finding Forrester (2000), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016), Metropolis (1927), Sahara (2005), Scrooge (1951), Shooter (2007), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Talk to Her (2002), The Apartment (1960), The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), The Holiday (2006), The Last Emperor (1987), The Party 2 (1982), The Tin Drum (1979), Wonder Boys (2000),
Watch afterAquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Leave the World Behind (2023), Napoleon (2023),
Oppenheimer (2023) Poor Things (2023), Saltburn (2023),
J.A. Bayona directs a heartbreaking adaptation of a true-life tale of tragedy & miracles.
Though we joke about the smallest inconveniences rendering us helpless, in truth the human will to survive cannot be underestimated. When confronted with imminent death, we can and will resort to extreme means to escape it, sometimes in ways that might shock and horrify those who weren’t there. One such story was Aron Ralston, a hiker who was forced to break and cut his own arm off after he was trapped by a fallen boulder, as depicted in 2010’s 127 Hours. Another was a 1972 plane crash in the Andes mountains, after which the survivors, faced with subzero temperatures, no food, and no plant life or animals to be found, eventually resorted to cannibalism to avoid starvation.
The Andes plane crash story was adapted for film a number of times, including the trashy, exploitative Survive!, and 1993’s competently made but whitewashed Alive, in which Ethan Hawke was cast as a character named Nando Parrado. Now J.A. Bayona, whose 2012 film The Impossible was also a harrowing tale of survival, takes a turn with Society of the Snow, a gripping, heart-wrenching look at the emotional toll such an unthinkable event takes on those who somehow came out of it alive, if not exactly well. Continue Reading →
Better Call Saul
NetworkAMC+,
SimilarBates Motel, Komi Can't Communicate, Unforgettable,
StarringGiancarlo Esposito,
Better Call Saul is a tragedy. From the beginning, it focused on a rough-edged, yet decent man whom the audience knows will one day become an unrepentant merchant of death and destruction. What makes it so tragic, beyond the known destination, is that the series is riddled with missed exits. Time and again, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) faced situations where -- if he’d just pulled back from the brink, if he’d only taken his lumps instead of wriggling out of them, if he’d simply chosen not to push things too far -- all of this could have been avoided. Continue Reading →