See cinema differently
45 Years is probably the finest ghost movie of the decade thus far, and it isn't even a horror film. The ghost in question manifests no physical presence, but it's effect is pronounced, steering an incredibly rich, understated character piece down some fascinating avenues. Written and directed by Andrew Haigh and taking place in the …
Year: 1960 Director: Georges Franju Stars: Pierre Brasseur (Docteur Génessier), Alida Valli (Louise), Edith Scob (Christiane Génessier), Juliette Mayniel (Edna Gruber) Genre: Horror / Mystery Known in English-speaking circles as Eyes Without A Face, Georges Franju's second feature film Les Yeux Sans Visage is, for me, one of the greatest horror films of them all, and one of …
Continue reading "Why I Love… #80: Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without A Face)"
By sheer coincidence yesterday I watched Dogtooth for the first time; Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos' bizarre and striking fictional story of siblings living in enforced seclusion from the world by their overly protective and misguided parents. One wonders what the Angulo family would make of the film. For here, in Crystal Moselle's equally unusual documentary we …
An open letter to producers of mainstream horror (particularly you, Blumhouse). Just... Stop. Enough is enough, okay? At first it seemed excusable, but we're beyond that now. For too long multiplexes have been handed the most derivative material. Creepy kids. Dour ghosts. That'll-do lead performances from pretty nobodies we'll never see again. Inexplicable motives and …
Amy's father Gordon (Colin Quinn) offends everyone. He's a racist, a homophobe, from all accounts a serial adulterer. Yet he keeps a collection of snow globes. Midway through Trainwreck we see Amy (Amy Schumer) sorting through these globes with a great feeling of nostalgia for them. It's a well-judged moment of reflection and a key to …
Mistress America is the second feature from Noah Baumbach of 2015 to deal with the thorny subject of intellectual property. Where it begins. Where it ends. But where spring's more user-friendly While We're Young came by the topic via a subplot that seemingly took over the picture, Mistress America seems more deliberately built to address the issue. In …
Year: 1984 Director: Hayao Miyazaki Genre: Animation / Science Fiction / Fantasy Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind was a landmark film for Hayao Miyazaki. Having directed his first feature film (1979's The Castle of Cagliostro) as a director-for-hire, Miyazaki had earned just praise within Japan's fervent animation industry, but the film had not been …
Continue reading "Why I Love… #79: Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind"
A List Of Things You Can Do In 106 Minutes That Cost Less Than A Ticket To See Pixels And Are More Rewarding Just sit there doing nothing. Have a nap. Play any of the 80's video games featured in the film (you want a list? ask the internet). Play The Last Of Us, which is also featured …
One imagines Christopher McQuarrie, screenwriter and director of this fifth instalment of the Mission: Impossible series, sat in his kitchen struggling to come up with that special something that will separate his addition to the franchise out from all the rest. That special set-piece. Sure, Tom's got some nifty idea about hanging on to a plane …
I nearly fell asleep watching Song Of The Sea. But wait, before you go taking that the wrong way, let me explain a couple of things. 1) I had a late night and an early start (for no good reason either), 2) I settled down in the too-sparsely-populated cinema very shortly after a satisfying brunch that …
It almost seems unfair to cover this film just a few days after basking in the legacy of Orson Welles' Touch Of Evil. In a way, I suppose, it goes to show the sheer diversity of film as an art form. On the one hand you can have a palpably nightmarish crime thriller etched into the …
