Tag: drama
The Bikeriders
Friday, July 12th, 2024 Film Reviews,Assuming that much of the hooning around on motorbikes in The Bikeriders was done by stunt doubles, Austin Butler’s major contribution to this film is to look pretty and stare blankly at everyone else, and the camera. In his role as the young hoodlum, Bennie, the new Hollywood heartthrob has relatively few lines, even though […]
A Silence & Spanish Film Festival 2024
Sunday, June 30th, 2024 Film Reviews,A Silence doesn’t announce that it’s Based on a True Story, but its origins are not hard to find. In this film by Belgian director, Joachim Lafosse, the crime that looms in the background is that of paedophile, rapist and serial killer, Marc Dutroux, who kidnapped, imprisoned and tortured a series of young girls from […]
The Three Musketeers
Saturday, June 8th, 2024 Film Reviews,Why did I wait so long to read Alexandre Dumas? One of literature’s all-time best-sellers, he had to be doing something right. The grandson of a French nobleman and a African slave, Dumas (1802-70) was as unlikely as one of his own plots, and no less successful. He spent money as fast as he made […]
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Saturday, May 25th, 2024 Film Reviews,All great film series have their highs and lows. A masterpiece is followed by a dud, a long sequence of flops suddenly comes up trumps. One can never be confident that a great film will be followed by an equally compelling sequel, or that a franchise that resembles a dead horse might not spring to […]
Monster & Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Friday, May 10th, 2024 Film Reviews,Some directors are known for their car chases, Hirokaru Kore’eda is celebrated for his portrayals of families – big, small, sometimes barely recognisable as such. In Monster, the family consists of only a single mother, Saori Mugino (Sakura Ando), and her 11-year-old son, Minato (Soya Kurokawa), living in a provincial Japanese city. As they sit […]
I Know Where I’m Going
Monday, May 6th, 2024 Blog,I Know Where I’m Going, made during the last year of World War Two, was a film between films. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger had been working together since 1939, when the Hungarian emigré was asked to help with rewrites for Powell’s The Spy in Black. Four years and three films later, Pressburger would be […]
Golda & Fremont
Friday, May 3rd, 2024 Film Reviews,If ever a film release could be said to be badly timed, it’s Golda, the bio-pic of former Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir, who led her country through the Yom Kippur War of 1973, after a surprise attack from their Arab neighbours, Egypt and Syria. It arrives at a time when another intransigent Israeli Prime […]
Challengers & Evil Does Not Exist
Friday, April 26th, 2024 Film Reviews,Challengers may be the first tennis movie that really takes us onto the court. When racket connects with ball it’s as if an exocet missile has been fired. Every contact between ball and court is explosive, as director, Luca Gaudagnino pumps up the volume and pushes us back into our seats. Sweat doesn’t drip from […]
Late Night with the Devil
Friday, April 19th, 2024 Film Reviews,“Ladies and gentlemen please stay tuned for a live television first, as we attempt to commune with the Devil… But not before a word from our sponsors.” With these words I knew I’d discovered one of the rarer marsupials: a new Australian film with a sense of humour. It may be considered ironic that we’re […]
The First Omen
Tuesday, April 16th, 2024 Film Reviews,When it appeared in 1976, Richard Donner’s The Omen was acclaimed as one of the all-time great horror films. It was an era of classic horror, led by The Exorcist (1973) and Carrie (1976), movies that still set people raving. Oh my God, these were the scariest things they’d ever seen! If these classics no […]