Psychological
Noah’s Barks pages relating to the psychological genre.
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The Flowers of Evil
Albeit not a substitute for Shuzo Oshimi’s incredible manga, The Flowers of Evil stylistically captures the anxiety and internalized disgust that emerge during pubescence’s discovery of sexuality. (read more)
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Paranoia Agent
Normally a movie director, Satoshi Kon uses the Paranoia Agent TV series as a vehicle to deliver many of his ideas for short stories. Results vary, but ultimately impress. (read more)
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Crash
Those who champion Crash as another David Cronenberg cult classic at least have an understandable reason: it’s arguably the last of his original format. Sexual psychology abounds, draped in darkness and colored with Cronenberg’s body horror tastes in a mangled orgasmic car Crash. What’s missing is his ability to contextualize this psychology through human beings… (read more)
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The Master
If there is a cult theme here, it’s the cult of Paul Thomas Anderson; devotees so enamored by the excellent cinematography and intense performances in The Master that they believe there must be something more to it all. The Master isn’t a complex film, but appears as such due to its vague, diametrically opposed themes… (read more)
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Shutter Island
It’s a dark day when you see a Martin Scorsese movie that relies on jump scares. Every time the score of Shutter Island score got quiet I turned the volume down immediately to avoid damaging my ear drums. Pronouncing the twist in a mystery movie so obviously is baffling, but there’s really no defending it… (read more)
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One Outs
Brainer up! ‘One Outs’ is a baseball anime that breaks convention through its genius main character who seeks victory through strategy rather than athletic ability. A homerun derby of thrills. (read more)
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A Dangerous Method
The subject of A Dangerous Method, the relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, is too great and too interesting to compress under two hours, and it especially doesn’t deserve to have the Sabina Spielrein romance as the center-weight. The need to squeeze in so much exposition and to doll it out in scientific jargon… (read more)
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Death Parade
‘Death Parade’ turns the ‘Death Billiards’ short movie into its own series, which sadly reveals the narrative limitations of its writers. (read more)
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Venus in Fur
It’s impressive and very pleasing to me as a fan that Polanski has still not lost himself after decades of films. Akin to many of his works, Venus in Fur is a single-setting psychological playground where Amalric and Seigner compete for dominance over each other and the screen. The two are wrapped in a clever,… (read more)
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Punch-Drunk Love
Punch-Drunk Love is a very unexpected mix of palpably uncomfortable anxiety-ridden drama, frilly romance, and absurdist comedy that comes incredibly, incredibly close to imploding in on itself by becoming a wild mess – but there’s just enough ambiguity to its strangeness to blur these cracks over and make it a really lovely trip. Any primary… (read more)