Year: 1995 Director: Hirokazu Kore-Eda Stars: Makiko Esumi, Takashi Naitô, Tadanobu Asano Maborosi - Hirokazu Kore-Eda's narrative debut following a series of documentaries - might take the prize for the most dour film in this series. In some respects. The colour palette and thematic meat are both grim and mournful. It takes place beneath permanently … Continue reading Why I Love… #126: Maborosi
Director: Gabriel Range Stars: Johnny Flynn, Jena Malone, Marc Maron Here's a list of things you probably need in order to pull-off a successful music biopic. 1) Since the critic-proof success of Bohemian Rhapsody, one thing you don't need, apparently, is to try. But you should try. Those box office numbers have meant that an often creatively-bankrupt movie subgenre … Continue reading Review: Stardust
Director: Regina King Stars: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Leslie Odom, Jr. Regina King's star has only been in ascendance of late. From sterling work in TV shows such as The Leftovers and Watchmen, through to a Best Supporting Actress win for her part in Barry Jenkins' damned-near-perfect If Beale Street Could Talk. Now she's making headlines for … Continue reading Review: One Night in Miami…
Director: Spike Lee Stars: David Byrne, Tendayi Kuumba, Chris Giamo In the second half of the 1983 'Stop Making Sense' tour, Talking Heads frontman David Byrne would disappear off-stage briefly only to re-emerge in an over-sized suit. The famous 'big suit' and its associated moves were a mockery of a certain Wall Street mentality that … Continue reading Review: David Byrne’s American Utopia
Director: Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese Stars: Mary Twala, Jerry Mofokeng, Makhaola Ndebele Lesotho sits in the midst of South Africa; a landlocked island on a continent whose cinema seldom makes it to our shores. A vast area of filmmaking effectively silenced by poor distribution and widespread apathy to what it has to say. This makes any … Continue reading Review: This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection
Year: 1967 Director: Jean-Luc Godard Stars: Anne Wiazemsky, Juliet Berto, Jean-Pierre Léaud By 1967 Jean-Luc Godard was operating at his most creative and prolific. The decade saw him repeatedly (and justly) celebrated as a powerhouse of the French New Wave. In '67 he would release three new features. 2 or 3 Things I Knew About … Continue reading Why I Love…. #125: La Chinoise
Director: Kornél MundruczóStars: Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Iliza Shlesinger It's so difficult, sometimes, to separate the artist from the art. Recent revelations about Shia LaBeouf's despicable behaviour toward FKAtwigs has put an immediate pall over his work. I love American Honey but I feel conflicted about revisiting it. I've added The Peanut Butter Falcon to … Continue reading Review: Pieces of a Woman
Year: 2012 Director: Paul WS Anderson Stars: Milla Jovovich, Li Bingbing, Sienna Guillory Okay, stick with me on this. Paul WS Anderson - a largely derided or simply dismissed director - is a man preoccupied. His career can be looked at like someone obsessively playing a video game over and over. His first feature, Mortal Kombat, … Continue reading Why I Love… #124: Resident Evil: Retribution
Year: 1970 Director: King Hu Stars: Shi Jun, Xu Feng, Bai Ying Journeying back and forth along the timeline of cinema you can end up with some surprising contrasts. The last film to feature in this series was Tsai Ming-liang's Goodbye, Dragon Inn; as perfect an example of modern 'slow cinema' as one could identify. … Continue reading Why I Love… #123: A Touch of Zen
It's easy to feel crushingly demotivated as 2021 begins, especially here in the UK, where COVID cases are at an all-time high, most of us are in a kind of faulty lockdown and the actualisation of Brexit feels like the beginning of a years-long winter, Westeros-style. Happy New Year indeed. To try and reignite a … Continue reading Minutiae: The Beginning of Post Tenebras Lux
This week saw the long overdue physical re-issue of David Cronenberg's seminal 1996 film Crash via an extraordinarily lavish Arrow Video release. Replete with hours of extras, it will surely be the definitive release of the film. One of the hallmarks of a true cinematic great is it's ability to reveal new things to you … Continue reading Minutiae: The Positive Approach to Disability in Cronenberg’s Crash
Director: Hong Sang-soo Stars: Kim Min-hee, Song Seon-mi, Seo Young-hwa South Korean director Hong Sang-soo often feels to me like a modern day Éric Rohmer. His films are similarly small in scale, focusing on miniature comedies and dramas within small social microclimates. He's also similarly prolific, churning out multiple efforts a year sometimes. His are … Continue reading Review: The Woman Who Ran
Director: George C Wolfe Stars: Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, Glynn Turman On 28th August this year the world stopped at the news Chadwick Boseman had died. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom arrives now on Netflix labored with the weight of containing the last performance of this firebrand young actor, taken from us just as he was … Continue reading Review: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Director: Steve McQueen Stars: Kenyah Sandy, Sharlene Whyte, Naomi Ackie Steve McQueen's Small Axe series of films comes to a bittersweet close with what appears to be his most personal tale - and possibly the most personally motivated piece of work in his career thus far. Throughout the strand, McQueen has spotlighted institutions that have failed … Continue reading Review: Education
Director: Albert Serra Stars: Iliana Zabeth, Helmut Berger, Marc Susini Consisting in the main of a furtive, debauched orgy in the moonlit French woods toward the end of Louis XVI's reign - conducted by libertines expelled from his court - Albert Serra's Liberté was largely rejected at Cannes in 2019 but has recently surfaced for … Continue reading Review: Liberté
