Reviews written for films released in the UK in 2009
***originally written 21st December 2009*** "What have I done?" "What's going on?" "Why is this happening?" These are big open questions, and exactly the sort of questions that Larry Gopnik is moved to ask in A Serious Man, the latest film from the Coen brothers. Two years after they scooped Oscars for No Country For … Continue reading Review: A Serious Man
***originally written 17th December 2009*** I have to admit it; I'm not fun at all. As much as I love to chew on movies of all kinds, the one variety that is going to get my back up from the beginning is the blockbuster groomed for mass-consumption. I don't trust them. Or rather, I trust … Continue reading Review: Avatar
***originally written 1st September 2009*** Broken Embraces is the latest film by Pedro Almodóvar, but the first of his films (which include Volver and Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown) that I have seen. Through two narratives separated by 14 years, it tells the tale of Mateo Blanco (Lluis Homar), a screenwriter and … Continue reading Review: Broken Embraces
***originally written 16 August 2009*** Quentin Tarantino's latest cartoon is a wicked and idiosyncratic romp through Nazi-occupied France. I say cartoon because that's the mindset of the piece. It's colourful, silly, frequently aiming for laughs, mocks realism (and history) at every turn, and - as some cartoons are able of being - occasionally unexpectedly poignant. … Continue reading Review: Inglourious Basterds
***originally written 14 August 2009*** Antichrist is the latest film from Lars Von Trier, a horror piece that has courted no small amount of controversy for it's explicit content. It'll make you wince more than once. The basic outline is that a nameless couple - Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg - travel to a woodland … Continue reading Review: Antichrist
