Simon's Movie Reviews

  Watching Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925) is just like watching a live-action cartoon. There is plenty of slapstick humour, an undefeatable character surviving physically impossible situations, and of course a happy ending. By today’s standards it is heavily dated in terms of technology, but it speaks volumes about Chaplin’s talent that his movie is still entertaining. I also have a feeling plenty of cartoonists were inspired by his style in the decades that followed his success. Charlie Chaplin is an icon of cinema and was at one point one of the biggest movie stars in the world. You’ll excuse if I haven’t seen all of his movies since they came out early last century, but I have made some headway in his filmography. I saw Modern Times at a university film course, and my fiancée and I recently enjoyed The Great Dictator that is now available on Netflix along with many of Chaplin’s other successes. The Gold Rush is a bit less profound in terms of content, but what it lac...

The horror movie Suspiria (1977) qualifies as a work of art, albeit a flawed one. It has a vibrant colour palette, very creative shots, and some truly gory scenes of violence that are artfully directed. Directed by the legendary Dario Argento, the movie has a mostly female cast who all take the role of protagonists and antagonists. The problem is some of these women do the smart thing and investigate the strange events at their Italian dance school, while others are reduced to screaming their heads off while the killer is slowly making his/her way towards them. The movie could have a had a worse treatment of its female characters, but also a better one. I listen to horror podcast Shockwaves every week and Suspiria is a movie that will come up every now and then as a point of comparison to other horror films. Plus, the movie was of course remade recently so it came back into the zeitgeist. I haven't gotten around to the remake yet, but the original is available for free ...