Pearce’s Film Reviews

239 Films have been rated or reviewed by Pearce.

Saragossa Manuscript, The (1965): I thought this would be a po–faced arthouse weirdy, but it's actually quite hilarious in the manner of a Bunuel movie.
Batman (1989): If the script was up to the aesthetics and the acting, this would be a stone cold classic. I'll deduct a star for the story and another for the awful Prince soundtrack (I love Prince but he's a terrible fit here).
Fat City (1971): Susan Tyrrell was a force of nature. This whole movie is compelling, but her scenes are electric.
Dear Zachary (A Letter to a Son about his Father) (2008): Devastating documentary that punches you in the face over and over again. The filmmaking is amateurish but the personal nature of it more than makes up for this.
Battletruck (Warlords of the 21st Century) (1982): Worth a look to see Bruno and actors from Gliding On in a post–apocalypse setting. The truck is fun, too.
Friday Foster (1975): Minor and tame compared to Coffy and Foxy Brown, but you can't get those in NZ so this will do for now. Grier spends too much time getting saved, not enough time kicking arse.
Castle of Fu Manchu, The (1969): One of the two or three worst movies I've ever seen, and I LIKE Jess Franco. Resorts to using footage from a previous entry and tinting b&w stock footage blue and pretending that it's colour. Atrocious.
Freeway (1996): Genuinely great low–budget black comedy with a great cast, a lot of memorable dialogue, and an unusually gutsy role for Reese Witherspoon. Makes a great double feature with the same writer's Guncrazy.
Marebito (2004): Perhaps director Shimizu\'s most unconventional movie, Marebito is one of those stories that can be read either as one person\'s subjective descent into madness, the supernatural, or both. Ominous and unpredictable, it uses its low budget as a virtue.

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Pearce’s Film Reviews