Dom Sinacola

2 months ago | portlandmercury.com | Dom Sinacola

Direct Action has no characters. Someone may appear in one scene, and then, several sequences later, enter the frame again. Maybe. Direct Action never names anyone; it only shows you their hands—picking through a mud-heavy bucket, playing piano, or making a huge mass of dough, the camera locked on the pile of flour and pool of water and sunned forearms and gyrating fingers combining everything over the course of nine luxurious, unbroken minutes. Do we ever see those forearms again?

Feb 20, 2025 | portlandmercury.com | Dom Sinacola

Depending on how one wants to categorize ground chuck, at least two people in The Monkey are ground into it. The first is the victim of a horse stampede, and the other becomes a meaty mess via lawnmower.  We learn about the former when a sleeping bag is casually overturned, slopping out smushed man-oatmeal.

Jan 29, 2025 | portlandmercury.com | Dom Sinacola

With an almost mathematical precision to its pulpiness, The Prosecutor, the latest action-thriller from Hong Kong superstar Donnie Yen, doles out a brutal fight scene every 25 to 30 minutes. Across two brisk hours, violence shifts proportionately between bouts of athletic knuckling, street brawls, shoot-outs, car chases, foot chases, impalings, and pummelings—all spaced out evenly, each a deeply satisfying slice of modern Cantonese-language martial pop art.

Jan 16, 2025 | portlandmercury.com | Dom Sinacola

Wolf Man is the latest remake in a culture haunted by remakes. Look only a few weeks back to Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, an adaptation of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu, which was an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with key details and names altered to avoid legal action.

Jan 8, 2025 | portlandmercury.com | Dom Sinacola

Having only premiered in New York, LA, and at a bevy of fashionable festivals, The Brutalist enters most US cinemas this week with plenty of accolades at the wings. These include the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique Award for Best Film and the Silver Lion for director Brady Corbet at the Venice International Film Festival, a portfolio of major critics’ associations wins and nominations, and, as of this past Sunday, three Golden Globe awards.