Tag: drama
Downton Abbey (the movie)
Thursday, September 12th, 2019 Film Reviews,While the world had a collective orgasm over the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018, Julian Fellowes would have been enjoying his own private celebration. After six highly successful seasons of the TV series, Downton Abbey, Fellowes could see the Royal nuptials creating a highly receptive environment for his next […]
The Kitchen
Thursday, September 5th, 2019 Film Reviews,2019 may go down as the year in which female directors gained a lasting foothold in the movie business. Counting this week, four of the past eight films reviewed in this column have been made by women. I can’t recall anything like this ratio in previous years, where one in ten is a more likely […]
Dogman
Wednesday, August 28th, 2019 Film Reviews,Mention Italy and most of us think of Rome, Florence or Venice – cities rich in antiquities, overrun by tourists. Villaggio Coppola, near Castel Volturno – the setting of Matteo Garrone’s Dogman – is not that sort of place. A failed resort town north of Naples, it has become a desolate camp for African refugees and […]
The Nightingale
Thursday, August 22nd, 2019 Film Reviews,Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale won the Special Jury Prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival, but made headlines because an enraged Italian film critic shouted abuse from the audience. This is not the only place the film has proved controversial, with viewers walking out of screenings at the Sydney Film Festival, complaining about “gratuitous violence”. The […]
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Friday, August 16th, 2019 Film Reviews,Quentin Tarantino is the flawed genius of contemporary cinema. As a director he has such an assured touch that almost three hours of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood slip by in no time at all. The flaw lies in his love of extreme violence that leaves a nasty taste, no matter how much we […]
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan
Friday, August 9th, 2019 Film Reviews,A film script is one area where the old adage about “too many cooks” almost always rings true. Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, has employed no fewer than five writers, but the dialogue and characterisation never seem to have gotten beyond a first draft. This would be fatal if the film set out […]
Ophelia
Saturday, August 3rd, 2019 Film Reviews,“Young adult” is one of those phrases that hints at a broad range of cinematic sins, but there’s no reason why a movie ostensibly targeted at teenagers should be inferior in terms of plot or conception to films made for a general audience. Alas, the very thought of a demographic seems to clap creative handcuffs […]
The Third Wife
Thursday, July 11th, 2019 Film Reviews,My first option this week was Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart, which arrived with glowing plaudits as an American high-school comedy that was supposedly fresh, original and funny. That sounded about as likely as the platypus but it was something I needed to see with my own eyes. Alas, I must have gone to a different movie […]
Parasite
Thursday, June 27th, 2019 Film Reviews,Marcel Duchamp once told a friend he had made parasitism into a fine art. Had the enigmatic artist explained his methods, he might have said: “Never complain, never argue, and don’t get greedy.” The working class family in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite could write their own textbook on the subject, although they’d recommend a more aggressive approach. […]
Never Look Away
Thursday, June 20th, 2019 Film Reviews,Gerhard Richter’s official biography, written by Dieter Elger, curator of the artist’s archive, is a very dull book. This is partly because Richter, a micromanager of his own career, is famously protective about the details of his life. In Never Look Away it is director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s achievement to have recognised a powerful set of […]