See cinema differently
Director: Lana Wachowski Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick Any story, novel, play or film with genuine longevity is in some way changed by its own legacy. When the idea, its symbols and values add up to something larger than that initial kernel, that initial nugget. When a lived-in experience has been added by …
Director: Valdimar Jóhannsson Stars: Noomi Rapace, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Hilmir Snær Guðnason There's precious little chitchat between isolated Icelandic sheep-farming couple María (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason), which makes one particular breakfast conversation stand out. While reading the paper, Ingvar observes that time travel may now be theoretically possible, and ponders visiting the …
Director: Paolo Sorrentino Stars: Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo, Luisa Ranieri The Hand of God can plainly be cited as Paolo Sorrentino's "autobiographical one", but when you're an auteur on the world cinema stage with the kind of craft that marks each effort with your distinct signature, aren't they all "autobiographical ones"? Perhaps the answer is …
Director: Camille Griffin Stars: Keira Knightly, Annabelle Wallis, Lily-Rose Depp For those hankering a modern take on some yuletide spirit, the prospect of a festive knees-up in the company of Brit cinema stalwart Keira Knightly might well seem like an attractive proposition. But one would do well to calibrate expectations before embarking on this particular …
Director: Johannes Roberts Stars: Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Avan Jogia Play pretty much any video game nowadays and there'll be a selection of optional 'trophies'; pre-set goals to complete to improve your overall ranking and measure how thoroughly you've bested it. A fairly commonplace one - and one present on the recent Resident Evil II …
Continue reading "Review: Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City"
Director: Jane Campion Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Benedict Cumberbatch Though she's hardly been inactive, the return of Jane Campion to feature filmmaking is serious news, and her new western has already caused much hubbub after debuting on the festival circuit. Now nestled among the detritus on Netflix, can it make a mark amid so …
Director: Ridley Scott Stars: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Salma Hayek Ladies and gentlemen, the charcuterie is open. Though octogenarian Ridders has vocally blamed millennial apathy on the poor performance of The Last Duel just last month (shit, this year feels long), I'd wager the real culprit was the blink-and-you'll-miss-it promotional campaign and non-existent theatrical run …
Year: 1973 Director: Shunya Ito Stars: Meiko Kaji, Yayoi Watanabe, Reisen Lee A while back I covered my myriad reasons for loving the second entry in the Female Prisoner Scorpion series (a film that, if anything, I've grown to love even more - it's presently in my personal all-time top 10). But a recent re-watch …
Continue reading "Why I Love… #144: Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable"
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi Stars: Hideotoshi Nishijima, Tôko Miura, Reika Kirishima Yûsuke (Hideotoshi Nishijima) and Oto (Reika Kirishima) are a married couple in contemporary Japan who both work in the arts. He as an actor, she as a writer of alluring fiction, both short stories and screenplays for television. They are a couple connected by - …
Director: Andreas Fontana Stars: Fabrizio Rongione, Stéphanie Cléau, Carmen Iriondo There are few films in recent years that have felt as slippery and evasive as Azor. Considering I have a somewhat high tolerance threshold for obtuse and mysterious cinema, you can take that as your first warning. However, if these are qualities that tend to …
Director: Mike Mills Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Woody Norman, Gaby Hoffman America is uncertain. Between the omnipresent ills of climate change, class disparity and race relations, it is a nation that seems strung-out, worried, over-caffeinated and quick to anger. Mike Mills' latest film acts in the main like a small and personal human drama, which it …
Director: Robert Greene An anonymous double-garage with its wide door closed. Slowly it opens, sliding up to reveal... boxes. Boxes atop boxes. As high as the ceiling, as deep as the garage goes, so it seems. These are case files. Sexual abuse case files. The Catholic church's unending connection to pedophiliac horror stories isn't funny …
Director: Céline Sciamma Stars: Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Nina Meurisse Skip over her illustrious last film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, for just a moment and the cinema of Céline Sciamma has been defined by her keenly attuned sense of the interior lives of children. In Water Lilies this manifested in a tale of …
Director: Clint Eastwood Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eduardo Minett, Natalia Traven Now 91, it's somewhat remarkable that Clint Eastwood is still making movies at all, let alone making them with such irrepressible regularity. Not only that, but he's taken to appearing in front of the cameras once again, doing double duty as each brings the prospect …
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green Stars: Will Smith, Demi Singleton, Aunjanue Ellis Was Will Smith bored? Is that why this has happened? Did the man see his acting career becoming mo-cap, voice work and cameos, and did it send a chill down his spine? Was he wandering the halls of his mansion like a lost Quentin …
The Lost Highway Hotel 